Heard a loud boom in Mississippi this morning? It was a meteor.

CLAIBORNE COUNTY, Miss. (WLBT) - Many residents in Claiborne County and beyond described hearing a loud boom Wednesday morning.

“Citizens of Claiborne County, local officials are aware of the loud sound that was heard throughout the county,” their sheriff’s department posted on Facebook, saying that the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station was not involved.

Hours later it was confirmed that the loud boom was, in fact, a meteor.

Malary White with MSEMA said NASA had received roughly 40 calls from residents in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas.

The space object moved at a speed of 55,000 mph and broke into pieces as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere. It disintegrated about 30 miles above a swampy area north of Minorca, Louisiana.

The fragmentation of the meteor generated the energy equivalent to 3 tons of TNT, which created shock waves that hit the ground.

This was the cause of the loud booms and vibrations felt by those back on Earth. At its peak, the fireball was over ten times brighter than the full moon.

MSEMA says that the fireball caused no injuries or property damage and that it ran parallel to the Mississippi River.

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