A loud sonic boom was heard and a fireball seen around 18:06 UTC Saturday 30 May 2026 across New England in the northeastern region of the United States. The bright fireball (bolide) was seen over a wide area during the daytime which was confirmed as falling meteorites by the data from the local radars. The meteorite fell in the middle of Cape Cod Bay.
American Meteor Society received numerous reports of observation of fireball event on Saturday 30 May 2026 around 18:06 UTC from many locations in the regions. As per US Geological Survey, the sonic boom felt was likely from a bolide since the sonic boom event occurred along a linear path in the atmosphere unlike in the case of earthquake when sonic boom occurs at a discrete location.
| Glossary |
| Meteoroid: A meteoroid is a small fragment from the celestial bodies such as asteroids and comets floating in outer space. It is a small extraterrestrial object still in space. |
| Meteor: It is visible streak of light when a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere and burns up. |
| Meteorite: It is solid remnant of a meteoroid that survives burns through the atmosphere and lands on the surface of the Earth. |
| Chondrites: The most common meteorites, making over 85% of the meteorites reaching Earth’s surface. They are the oldest primitive rocks that have not changed much since the birth of the solar system over 4.5 billion years ago. |
| Carbonaceous chondrites: Highly primitive, have abundant organic matter and hydrated silicates. They give us information about the building blocks of the early solar system. |
The word ‘meteorite’ is derived from the Greek word meteōros meaning ‘present in air’. It refers to remnant of debris originating from outer space that entered Earth’s atmosphere, survived the atmospheric burn out and reached Earth’s surface.
Most of the meteorites originate from 4.6-billion-year-old asteroids situated in the belt between Mars and Jupiter, as such, they are witnesses to the formation of the solar system. They may also originate from the younger surfaces of Mars and the moon however such meteorites are rarer. For example, meteorite observed in 1962 in Zagami, Nigeria is of Martian origin while the meteorite Dhofar 081 found in 1999 in Oman is of lunar origin.
Chondrites are the most common meteorites. Over 85% of the meteorites reaching Earth’s surface are chondrites. They are the oldest primitive rocks that have not changed much since the birth of the solar system over 4.5 billion years ago. The Horace meteorite found in Kansas in 1940 is one such meteorite.
Some chondrites are highly primitive and have abundant organic matter and hydrated silicates. They give us information about the building blocks of the early solar system. Called carbonaceous chondrites, they make up about 5% of meteorites that reach Earth’s surface. The Allende meteorite is one such meteorite with small melt droplets and a fine-grained dark matrix. It is about 4.56 billion years old from around the beginning of the solar system.
Carbonaceous chondrites are samples from planetesimals, the minute planets from the early solar system that formed 2–4 million years after solar system formation began.
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References:
- Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science. Meteorite Falls.
- Cape Cod Bay MA 5/30/2026 @ 1806 UTC Lat/Long 41.87754 -70.35239. Available at https://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/meteorite-falls/events/cape-cod-bay-ma
- American Meteor Society. Fireball event: AMS event #3867 for 2026. Available at https://fireball.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2026/3867
- US Geological Survey. M ? Other Event – Sonic Boom – Eastern Massachusetts. Available at https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000spjy/executive
- Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science. Meteorite Falls – What Are Meteorites? Available at https://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/meteorite-falls/what-are-meteorites/
- Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. Meteorites – Witnesses from Space. Available at https://www.mpic.de/4470048/meteoriten
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