The object responsible for the alarm, according to NASA, was a meteoroid about 60 centimeters in diameter and about 450 kilos in weight.
Various authorities are investigating the impact of a meteorite in South Texas, USA, where residents reported an explosion that rocked their homes, ValleyCentral reports.
Cesar Torres, police chief of the city of Mission, Texas, revealed to the press this Thursday that on Wednesday afternoon the authorities received a barrage of calls describing a great explosion and the shaking of the houses. The official stated that the event had spread panic throughout the city.
A meteor fell in Mission, Texas today around 5-5:30 pm, making a loud bang, shaking house in a 10 mile radius. This was filmed over McAllen. 6 miles from Mission. pic.twitter.com/PBLZC3RJfw
—Daniel Vitor (@DanVitorPH) February 16, 2023
Later, Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra provided an update, to report that Houston Air Traffic Control received reports of two planes that said have seen a meteorite west of the city of McAllen, located near Mission.
The police chief of another nearby city, Alton, Jonathan Flores, told the outlet that they also felt the explosion.
However, it remains unclear if there was actually an impact and where. “We have not located any scene,” Torres said. “We don’t even know if there’s a scene,” she added.
In a statement, NASA confirmed that the object responsible for causing the panic and confusion in South Texas on Wednesday, February 15, was a meteoroid about 60 centimeters in diameter and weighing 453.5 kilos, and that “radar and other data indicate that meteorites did reach the ground.”
“Small asteroids enter the atmosphere over the continental United States once or twice a yearon average, and often discharge meteorites onto the ground,” the agency explained.
Source: RT
