Officials in Texas's Rio Grande Valley are investigating whether a meteor smashed into the ground in Hidalgo County Wednesday afternoon after fielding calls about falling stars, loud booms and shaking walls.
On Thursday, NASA said a half-ton meteoroid broke apart over South Texas Wednesday night and radar showed fragments of it reached the ground.
"Based on analysis of preliminary information from several sources, NASA experts believe the object was a meteoroid about two feet in diameter weighing about 1,000 pounds," a NASA news release said Thursday.
"The angle and speed of entry, along with signatures in weather radar imagery, are consistent with other naturally occurring meteorite falls. Radar and other data indicate that meteorites did reach the ground from this event," the statement continued.
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Cesar Torres, Chief of Police in Mission, said 911 dispatchers took calls from panicked residents at about 5:28 p.m. who reported hearing what sounded like explosions. Other callers said the booms left the walls of their homes shaking.
The National Weather Service in Brownsville reported that their Geostationary Lightning Mapper, a satellite that measures lightning, recorded flashes of light in the atmosphere that were bright enough to be detected by their satellites at about 5:23 p.m. though there were no storms in the area at the time.
Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra said during a news conference Alton Police Chief Jonathan Flores told him he was out for a jog when a loud boom nearly caused him to lose his footing. Guerra said residents told his deputies they saw a meteor or falling star and that after they lost sight of it they heard a loud boom that said sounded like a clap of thunder.
Guerra added that Houston Air Traffic Control received reports from two aircraft pilots, one flying at 34,000 feet, who reported seeing a meteor in the sky west of the McAllen-Mission area.
Junior Sanchez shared footage of his driveway where the boom can be heard and moments later the camera shakes.
Other callers also reported seeing a meteor streak across the sky, but it's unclear if it made it to the ground because no impact site has been located.
"Where the exact point of impact is unknown," said Guerra. "No reports of any damage in that area have been received."
Officials stressed they have not found any site confirming the meteor struck the ground. Officials searched the area by air Wednesday afternoon and found no smoke, fire, explosions or damaged property related to a meteor.
U.S. Rep. Monica de la Cruz (R-TX, 15th District) said if the meteor made it to the ground they believe it would have come down about 10 miles west of Mission. De la Cruz said she expected to receive a briefing from NASA sometime Thursday.
"We have meteorites that have hit all over," de la Cruz said. "NASA scientists estimate that every single day our planet is hit by over 100 tons of dust and particles from space. So again, while this is not a normal situation here in the Rio Grande Valley, it does occur."
Should anyone find a crater or an object they believe to be a meteorite, Guerra cautioned against touching it with bare hands out of concern the oils from human skin could contaminate the surface of the object and promote rusting. NASA has tips, here, on what to do if you find a meteorite.
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