▲A 7-ton meteor streaked across the sky over Cleveland, Ohio. (Reuters)
An asteroid weighing seven tons andtraveling at 45,000 miles per hour zoomed over the skies ofCleveland and Pennsylvania as a meteor today, causing a loud boomthat some residents mistook for an explosion. https://t.co/YbCQBXVuJp pic.twitter.com/mwEG71MyRi
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 17, 2026
A magnificent fireball weighing seven tons zoomed across the skies of Cleveland, Ohio at a staggering speed of 45,000 miles per hour on the 17th, remarkable enough to be seen by residents even from several states away.
Giant fireball frightens residents, mistaken for explosion
According to the Associated Press, around 9 AM local time, the meteor streaked across the sky in Cleveland before bursting apart in the air with a deafening boom, startling local residents who believed there had been an explosion.
NASA later confirmed that this meteor measured nearly 1.83 meters in diameter. Bill Cooke, head of the Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO), stated that the meteor was initially spotted at an altitude of about 80 kilometers above Lake Erie, and after traveling over 55 kilometers in the atmosphere, it disintegrated over Valley City, north of Medina, releasing energy equivalent to 250 tons of TNT, resulting in a massive sound.
Brian Mitchell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS), commented, “There may be some small fragments left, but most of the material has burned up in the atmosphere.” No reports of recovered debris have been made.
▼Various monitors or cameras captured the falling meteor. (Photo / VCG)
Daytime fireball visible from several states
The American Meteor Society noted that reports of the meteor sighting reached as far as Wisconsin and Maryland. Carl Hergenrother, the executive director and astronomer, stated, “This appeared to be truly a fireball.” He explained that while many man-made satellites burn up and create fireballs upon re-entry, they are not usually this bright.
Meteors fall on average every day across the United States, and smaller fragments of space debris may drop as much as ten times an hour. With advancements in technology, more witness accounts have been documented by monitors or citizens’ smartphones.