NASA Reveals Meteor Streaks Over Texas Causing Sonic Booms: What You Need to Know

A spectacular fireball was observed over southeast Texas on Saturday afternoon, confirmed by NASA as a meteor likely breaking apart over the Houston area.

Residents in the greater Houston area reported sightings, including video from a doorbell camera and dashcam footage taken during a Little League baseball game, showing flaming balls of light traversing a clear blue sky. The meteor event was first noticed at 4:40 p.m. local time in Stagecoach, northwest Houston, according to NASA.

NASA reported that “it moved southeast at 35,000 miles per hour and broke apart 47 miles above Bummel, just west of Cypress Station.” The agency noted in a post on X.

Initial estimates suggest that the meteorite was approximately 3 feet in diameter and weighed around 1 ton. As it entered Earth’s atmosphere, the pressure waves generated a sonic boom audible in parts of the area.

Houston resident Shelley James reported that debris from the meteorite may have crashed through her home on Saturday afternoon. She was in the bathroom when loud thuds resonated from her daughter’s room.

“I went in to check and found a hole; the floor was caved in,” she described.

Next to her daughter’s bed, James discovered what she called a “big black rock.”

“I thought, ‘What is this?'” she recalled. “I called my grandson and asked, ‘Is that a meteorite?’ It was pitch black, which was the first thought that came to mind.”

While the meteorite was roughly the size of a baseball, James noted it felt heavier than one. Fortunately, despite the dramatic event, her family members were unharmed when the rock struck their home.

“It just looked like a rock. Rocks falling from the sky don’t mean anything,” James remarked.

The American Meteor Society monitors bolide events globally, recording over 140 meteor reports that Saturday, across regions in South Central and Southeast Texas, including Houston, Katy, College Station, San Antonio, and Austin.

NASA indicated that Doppler weather radar suggests a meteorite might have impacted an area of Houston between Willowbrook and Northgate Crossing.

This meteor sighting occurred just four days after another fireball was reported in northeastern Ohio and Pennsylvania. Bill Cook, head of NASA’s Meteor Environment Office, shared with NBC News that the earlier fireball likely resulted from a small asteroid weighing 7 tons and measuring about 6 feet in diameter. As the meteorite disintegrated, it released energy equivalent to 250 tons of TNT.

Preliminary data showed this previous meteor was traveling at 45,000 miles per hour before breaking apart over Valley City, Ohio. Cook illustrated that the fireball likely created several meteorites around Medina County.

While large meteors that create bright fireballs are infrequent, they do occur. Countless smaller space rocks, dust, and remnants from rockets collide with Earth daily, according to NASA. However, the majority burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere.