America is in turmoil over unusually loud explosions.

Unusually loud explosions occurred in Boston, Massachusetts, and parts of South Carolina, leaving residents bewildered and speculating about the possible causes.

Satellite imagery shows the trail of a meteor that entered the atmosphere and exploded off the coast of Massachusetts on May 30. The fireball is identified as a bright streak of light near the center of the image. Photo: CNN .

Twice this week, residents along the East Coast of the United States were startled by sudden, loud explosions that shook windows and houses, leaving them wondering what was causing this strange phenomenon.

The latest explosion occurred around 2 PM on May 30th in the Boston area. Following public alarm, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has provided an explanation.

Accordingly, a meteor entered Earth's atmosphere at a speed of approximately 120,000 km/h before breaking apart in the sky over Boston, creating a loud explosion that caused panic among many residents.

The explosion occurred at an altitude of approximately 64 kilometers above the area encompassing Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and the meteor broke into many pieces after the blast.

NASA stated that the energy released when this space asteroid disintegrated in the skies over the United States was equivalent to approximately 300 tons of TNT, creating the massive explosions that were recorded on the ground.

Before NASA offered an official explanation, residents in the Boston area and Rhode Island had put forward numerous theories on social media, ranging from a nuclear attack to the possibility of an alien invasion.

Rich Sauro, who lives in Medfield, Massachusetts, about 64 kilometers west of Boston, said he was resting in his second-floor bedroom when he suddenly heard a loud and strange noise he had never heard before.

"I thought a car had crashed into my house," said Mr. Sauro. Mr. Sauro, 64, reacted like many others in the area by immediately calling the police to report the incident.

Mr. Sauro then walked around the neighborhood with his son, hoping to uncover some serious incident. However, they found nothing unusual.

The Boston Police Department said they received calls from numerous locations across the state. Officers were also dispatched to several areas to manage the situation.

According to Carl W. Hergenrother, CEO of the American Meteor Society (AMS), because the sky over Boston was cloudy on May 30, people may not have clearly seen the burning rock as it hurtled towards Earth.

The public's confusion about the source of the explosion partly stems from the timing of the event.

Two days earlier, in South Carolina, about 1,600 km south of Boston, residents were also confused when they heard loud explosions around 5:30 p.m. on May 28.

Hundreds of people reported hearing a loud noise coming from the sky. On social media, some residents in South Carolina said the sound resembled a bomb explosion, while others said their rooms shook from the blast.

Local officials offered no explanation. NASA later confirmed that the explosions in South Carolina were not caused by a meteor, but did not rule out the possibility that the loud sounds were caused by space debris falling to Earth.

According to Hergenrother, the phenomenon of loud explosions in the sky occurs about a few times a year across the United States. However, the popularity of social media has made these events more clearly documented and widely disseminated.

According to Hergenrother, meteorites falling from space to Earth generally rarely cause injury or death to humans. When they hit the ground, they also don't create large, smoking craters like those often depicted in movies.

"In the movie, the meteor falls to the Earth's surface and creates a large, smoking crater. In reality, we would just see a black rock appearing where it didn't exist before," Hergenrother said.

Source: https://znews.vn/nuoc-my-xon-xao-vi-nhung-tieng-no-lon-bat-thuong-post1655675.html