RTWed, 17 Jan 2018 03:14 UTC

© Mike Austin/YouTube
Residents in several cities across Michigan reported seeing a bright and colorful flash travel through the sky before hearing a loud boom. The US Department of Homeland Security confirmed that it was a meteor fireball.Numerous videos recorded by security cameras and dashcams in the Metro-Detroit area and surrounding cities Tuesday night show a flash of bright light zooming across the sky, instantly turning night into day for an instant.
Several Michigan residents took to social media to say they heard a loud sound after the flash of light. Many speculated that the light and sound were caused by a meteor, while others said that it could be something more mysterious.
After receiving multiple 911 calls, the Ingham County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management told residents not to worry, saying,
"It's a natural meteor fireball.""While many also reported an explosion, there is no indication that anything landed on the ground or cased damage. Most likely it was the boom of the meteor breaking apart," a text alert to residents said, according to
WWJ.
Comment: UPDATE: Wed, 17 Jan. 2018 (18.15 CET)USGS has registered this event as a
M2.0 earthquake with the epicenter at New Haven, just north of Detroit in Michigan.
Meteorite seen and heard in Detroit area. Location is approximate. The magnitude reported for this meteor cannot be directly used to compare its size to an earthquake because the source of the seismic signals are different.
The American Meteor Society (AMS) has received almost
400 reports of the event. The flashing light and loud boom felt across Michigan and seen as far away as New York City and parts of Canada on Tuesday night was a meteoroid entering the atmosphere,
according to NASA.
A post on the
NASA Meteor Watch Facebook page, said the meteoroid traveled northwest from the Brighton area to the Howell area, citing the American Meteor Society's website. The 1 a.m. post read:
"Our analysis yields a similar result, and we have calculated that this was a very slow moving meteor - speed of about 28,000 miles per hour,"
"This fact, combined with the brightness of the meteor (which suggests a fairly big space rock at least a yard across), shows that the object penetrated deep into the atmosphere before it broke apart (which produced the sounds heard by many observers). It is likely that there are meteorites on the ground near this region - one of our colleagues has found a Doppler weather radar signature characteristic of meteoritic material falling to earth."
UPDATE: Sat, 20th Jan. 2018The
Daily Mail reports meteorite hunters have found fragments:
Meteorite hunters who flocked to Detroit from across the U.S. after a meteor exploded are finding the fragments.
Most of the fragments landed in Hamburg Township.
The first fragments were located Thursday by professional hunters Larry Atkins and Robert Ward of Arizona, according to the American Meteor Society.
WHAT IS A METEOROID
A meteoroid is a small chunk of asteroid or comet.
When it enters Earth's atmosphere it becomes a meteor, fireball or shooting star.
The pieces of rock that hit the ground are meteorites, and are valuable to collectors.
The remnants must be analyzed by a lab to be accredited as meteorites.
Atkins owns Cosmic Connection Meteorites, while Ward operates Robert Ward Meteorites.
'It's a really spectacular specimen,' Ward said while holding one of the meteorites.
'Two days ago, this was hundreds of thousands of miles past the moon, and now I'm standing here holding it in my hand.
'It's been a real good day.'
Ward said he used seismic data, Doppler radar and witness information to narrow down where to search.
Meteorite hunters seek permission from landowners before searching on their property, Ward said.
Ward estimates he's collected about 600 meteorites from around the world over the years.
Longway Planetarium astronomers have also located three meteorites that'll be displayed Friday.
Darryl Pitt, a New York City resident and meteorite consultant to Christie's auction house, is offering $20,000 for a recovered fragment weighing at least 1 kilogram.
'I want to motivate more people to look,' Pitt said.
'Meteorites are extraordinarily rare and the world is just coming to terms with how special they are.'
Comment: UPDATE: Wed, 17 Jan. 2018 (18.15 CET)
USGS has registered this event as a M2.0 earthquake with the epicenter at New Haven, just north of Detroit in Michigan. The American Meteor Society (AMS) has received almost 400 reports of the event. The flashing light and loud boom felt across Michigan and seen as far away as New York City and parts of Canada on Tuesday night was a meteoroid entering the atmosphere, according to NASA.
A post on the NASA Meteor Watch Facebook page, said the meteoroid traveled northwest from the Brighton area to the Howell area, citing the American Meteor Society's website. The 1 a.m. post read:
UPDATE: Sat, 20th Jan. 2018
The Daily Mail reports meteorite hunters have found fragments: