A fireball that made an entry near McAllen on Wednesday was a meteoroid about 2 feet in diameter and weighing about 1,000 pounds, according to NASA.
Preliminary data indicates that the object broke apart and that meteorites reached the ground, according to the federal agency.
“The angle and speed of entry, along with signatures in weather radar imagery, are consistent with other naturally occurring meteorite falls. Radar and other data indicate that meteorites did reach the ground from this event,” NASA said in a statement.
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Mission Police Chief Cesar Torres said at a news conference on Thursday that officials were inundated with calls describing a large boom and homes shaking at about 5:30 p.m. Authorities in other Hidalgo County cities, including Alton, reported similar calls.
“It created panic throughout the city,” Torres said.
Torres said there were no reports of injuries or property damage as of Thursday morning. Officials also have not determined where the meteorites might have landed. The FBI and the Texas Department of Public Safety were involved in the search, officials said.
“We have not located a scene," Torres said. "We don’t even know if there is a scene.”
In its statement, NASA said that meteorites tend to hit Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds, but they slow while traveling through the atmosphere and break into small fragments before hitting the ground. Meteorites cool rapidly and generally are not a risk to the public.
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Small asteroids enter the atmosphere above the continental United States once or twice a year on average and often deliver meteorites to the ground, according to NASA.
Hidalgo County Sheriff J.E. “Eddie” Guerra said Thursday that federal authorities confirmed Houston Air Traffic Control had received reports from two aircraft that saw a meteorite west of McAllen.
Guerra said residents described "what to them looked like a falling star going across the sky. Once they lost sight of it, they heard a loud boom."
U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, of the 15th Congressional District, added: “We are grateful that everyone is safe, and although we worry about this and it is not a normal occurrence here in the Rio Grande Valley, it is not abnormal for this to happen.”
NASA said that the meteor seen in the skies above McAllen is a reminder of the need for NASA and other organizations to increase our understanding and protection of Earth.
timothy.fanning@express-news.net
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