This meteor can be described as a fireball since it exhibited a magnitude of brightness greater than -4, according to the American Meteor Society. If an asteroid or meteoroid does not burn up before impact, as this one did it is called a meteorite.
“As the object … penetrated deeper into the atmosphere, pressure built up its front while a partial vacuum formed behind it. About 30 miles up, the pressure difference between front and back exceeded its structural strength,” said the statement.
The fireball was captured on a webcam at Burlington International Airport. And seen by over 100 people who reported it on social media.
For anyone who was wondering about the big boom / meteor earlier today in #btv #vermont , I dug through some webcam footage and found this on the WCAX / BTV Airport webcam- watch the upper left. pic.twitter.com/oyVLSoVahP
— Jeremy LaClair (@JeremyLaclair) March 8, 2021
Even more, people commented on NASA’s post on Facebook and user Shannon Lemley-Willis wrote she had heard the “boom” in Johnson, Vermont.
“Kids playing outside described it as ‘big trucks crashing,'” she wrote.
“I didn’t get a video, but I definitely saw it in Watertown, MA. It was dusk, so the sky was fading to a deeper blue, and I saw a bright red, orange, and yellow streak to the north of me,” Dan Nystedt wrote. “I thought it must have been something much bigger than a standard ‘shooting star’ to be so visible when not totally dark yet.”
