A bright flash and loud boom witnessed by residents in British Columbia on Tuesday night were caused by a meteor traveling through the earth’s atmosphere, experts have confirmed. According to Robert Lunsford from the American Meteor Society, the event was classified as a “fireball,” which denotes a meteor larger and brighter than usual. Lunsford explained that while most meteors are typically the size of a pea, their high velocity can make them visible in the night sky. He mentioned that even a meteor the size of a softball can produce a flash as bright as the full moon, qualifying as a fireball.
Johanna Wagstaffe, a meteorologist and science reporter for CBC News, suggested that the phenomenon was likely a meteor passing through the atmosphere, as indicated by local seismographs showing a spike around 9:10 p.m. PT and the sonic boom associated with such events. Wagstaffe highlighted that meteors are not commonly observed in western North America, making the event noteworthy for residents. She elaborated on the creation of a sonic boom when an object moves at high speeds through the upper atmosphere, compressing and heating the air ahead of it.
NASA confirmed the reports of the meteor over the Pacific Northwest shortly after 9 p.m. on Tuesday. According to the agency, based on received fireball reports and data from a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite, the meteor became visible approximately 98 kilometers above Coquitlam, B.C. NASA indicated that the meteor was traveling at a speed of about 33 kilometers per second, disintegrating at an altitude of about 65 kilometers above Greenmantle Mountain in Garibaldi Provincial Park.
University of British Columbia astronomy professor Brett Gladman mentioned that the fireball was observed from as far west as Comox to as far south as Seattle, Wash., indicating its widespread visibility. Gladman explained that the fireball was likely caused by a rocky asteroid fragment entering the earth’s atmosphere, heating the atmosphere and creating an audible boom due to its supersonic speed. He noted the challenging task of locating any surviving fragments due to the meteor’s descent into a heavily forested, mountainous area north of Coquitlam.