FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KFTA) — MANY of you heard a boom💥Sunday afternoon, August 11, around 5:10 p.m. (CDT). After hearing several reports last night, I decided to do a little investigative work trying to figure out what it was.
My first thought is that it was a sonic boom from a potential meteor. We are in the middle of the Perseid Meteor Shower this week and that offers a great chance to see fireballs at night, but this event happened during bright daylight.
Well, here’s my research.
It has been confirmed what you saw and heard a little after 5 p.m. is known as a fireball bolide meteor. A fireball is a bright meteor and a bolide is when the meteor explodes. There’s a good chance this meteor may have reached the ground somewhere in southern Missouri.
If it was in fact a fireball meteor it would show up on GOES Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM). Let’s look at the data.
Well, the #GOES16 GLM data confirmed a FLASH (flash density) in SW Missouri with NO STORMS even close between 5:05 p.m. to 5:06 p.m. CDT. Looking at high-resolution (mesosector 1) visible satellite data, you can see the abundant cirrus clouds over SW Missouri from a decaying cluster of storms in the morning. The resolution wasn’t high enough to see a potential vapor trail though.
Since it was a bolide meteor, many of you heard the shock wave from the sonic boom or explosion of the meteor. You can also see the shock wave on the seismograph. It shows up just before 5:11 p.m. at the Hobbs State Park helicorder. The math makes sense if the meteor(ite) was located in SW Missouri. The sound would have taken approximately four minutes for it to travel 48 miles (every 5 seconds = approx 1 mile for the speed of sound).
So, now it’s time for you to help out. There’s a good chance some of this matter from out of this world has made it to the earth. Help out those meteorite hunters, let us know if you saw anything, heard a boom or booms 💥 and at exactly what time. The best thing you can do is make a detailed report on the American Meteor Society website. https://fireball.amsmeteors.org/members/imo/report_intro/
I’ve already received a ton of reports in the comments of my original Facebook post on my page this morning. The more quality reports the American Meteor Society receives from eyewitnesses, the better the chance of tracking down where the potential meteorite landed. Keep it here with Weather Authority for the latest cool science stuff and more updates. — Chief “Meteor”ologist Dan Skoff.
