What Is That Sound It S Probably A Meteor Over Salt Lake City.

But within hours, National Weather Service meteorologists said they solved the mystery: It was just a meteor streaking through the air. Thunderstorms swept through the area around 6 a.m. local time, but cleared by sunrise. Around 8:30 am a distinctive “boom” was heard throughout Salt Lake City, prompting people to take to social media and share videos of the noise they had heard. Some wondered if it was an earthquake. However, the University of Utah seismograph, which monitors earthquake activity, confirmed in a tweet that no such activity was recorded. Others thought it might be a training exercise at Tooele Army Depot, a military base and storage facility near Salt Lake City. In April, a similarly powerful blast turned out to be the military’s explosive materials during annual, scheduled exercises, according to the local ABC affiliate. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said he heard the noise while out jogging and that it was unrelated to the military. The governor said a meteorite was “probably the best theory.” The National Weather Service then noted on Twitter that two “reddish pixels” were spotted on a Geostationary Lightning Mapper, which detects lightning. However, the Met Office said the pixels were not associated with thunderstorms, but instead were “likely the path/sparkle of meteors”. “We now have video confirmation of the meteor heard in northern Utah, southern Idaho and elsewhere this morning,” the Weather Service said on Twitter. The meteor spotting coincided with the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, which peaked Thursday night into early Friday morning. (The Sturgeon Moon made it harder to see rain this year.) Mike Hankey, director of operations for the American Meteor Society, said there have been more than a dozen reports to the organization confirming fireball sightings. Mr Hankey said several people reported seeing the meteor and then a “delayed” explosion, which occurs when the object “penetrates deep into the atmosphere”. “If the object is big enough, it will get close enough to the surface to make that sound,” Mr Hankey said. “It’s like a sonic boom in some cases. others may witness an air burst or explosion in the air.’ Since the meteor was recorded on the lightning map, Mr Hankey said it was “significantly” bright. He added that it was possible, based on the delayed explosions, that the meteorite would land on the ground. It’s not the first time in recent memory that a meteor has caused brief panic or confusion. In January, a meteor was likely to have exploded over Pittsburgh and created a noise similar to the one in Salt Lake City. And in 2020, a sound like a meteorite explosion was heard in Syracuse, New York, and the fiery, red light was seen as far away as Baltimore and Ontario, according to The Baltimore Sun. In October of last year, an explosion that shook homes in New Hampshire prompted theories that an earthquake or an aircraft was to blame, but the sound was most likely a meteorite.