Meteor Causes Sonic Boom Near Cleveland

A powerful sonic boom rattled homes and startled residents across eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania on Tuesday morning, March 17, 2026, as a meteor streaked through the Earth's atmosphere near Cleveland, officials confirmed.

The event occurred shortly before 9 a.m. EDT, prompting a flood of 911 calls from people who described an explosion-like noise that shook buildings, rattled windows and set off car alarms. The National Weather Service offices in Cleveland and Pittsburgh quickly attributed the disturbance to a meteor, based on satellite data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geostationary Lightning Mapper. This instrument, which typically tracks lightning, detected a bright flash over the Cleveland area at 9:01 a.m., consistent with a meteor entering the atmosphere and producing a sonic boom as it decelerated.

NWS Cleveland stated that the imagery showed a distinct streak of light, indicating the object fragmented high in the sky without reaching the ground. "The latest GLM imagery does suggest that the boom was a result of a meteor," the office posted on social media in response to public inquiries. Similarly, NWS Pittsburgh shared video footage...