Bright Flash And Loud Boom Ignite Meteor Speculation In Great Lakes Region
A flash of bright light, followed by a boom, filled the night skies over parts of Michigan on Tuesday, prompting speculation that a meteor had streaked by.
Residents in Detroit, Flint, Ann Arbor and other cities in southeast Michigan reported hearing and seeing the “boom and flash in the sky” about 8:15 p.m. Some said they felt their homes shake. Pictures were reportedly knocked off walls.
#Meteorite or #meteor over #Clarkston #Michigan tonight at 20:08:30 local time #science #astronomy @NASA @wxyzdetroit @Local4News @CNN pic.twitter.com/Zrq6NhcKPA
— Tim (@tflyer85) January 17, 2018
“When Armageddon is near, you better get out of of here. Looking like a Deep Impact. I ain’t afraid of no ‘stroid” #metrodetroitmeteor pic.twitter.com/MdibIt82TZ
— Topher No Grace (@topherlaine) January 17, 2018
WAS IT A METEOR??? This video captures the bright light everyone has seen in the sky tonight. Courtesy of #Local4 viewer Kevin McCombs. pic.twitter.com/RY4u23jYAY
— Jason Colthorp (@JasonColthorp) January 17, 2018
Freaky bright flash in the sky...must be a meteor. To cold for lightning...both cameras picked it up. pic.twitter.com/4SpnL9s8la
— ;) (@MelTXD) January 17, 2018
Meteor flash over Ann Arbor pic.twitter.com/8lzQDtsXaw
— David Fry (@frydave) January 17, 2018
What my security cam caught during the #meteor in #Michigan pic.twitter.com/8vR2Xc3aoa
— Andrea (@cozy2963) January 17, 2018
Preliminary reports suggest people nearby states, including Illinois and Ohio, as well as across the border in Ontario, also saw something unusual in the sky about the same time.
The National Weather Service in Detroit suggested the flash could’ve been caused by a meteor, though they said they couldn’t confirm that to be the case.
“After looking at various observational datasets, [the NWS has] confirmed that it was not lightning or thunder, but instead a possible meteor or some other astronomical activity,” Rich Pollman, a meteorologist at NWS Detroit, told HuffPost.
This is a developing story. Check back for more details.
Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.