SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - Some central New York residents reported hearing a loud, explosive-like sound that experts say may have been a sonic boom from a meteor.
911 centers in both Onondaga and Oswego counties reported receiving several calls about a loud boom just after 5:00 p.m. Monday evening. Residents described hearing what sounded like explosions, while others said they heard what sounded like thunder.
Robert Lunsford, a manager at the American Meteor Society, says the evidence points to a sonic boom created by a meteor burning up in the earth's atmosphere.
Seven people across upstate New York, Pennsylvania and Canada made official reports to the nonprofit.
Lunsford adds the noise is nothing to worry about and that these "booms" happen frequently. Meteors are often very small, ranging from the size of a grain of sand to the size of a pebble. Larger meteors, which streak across the sky and can create a sonic boom, are often the size of a softball and usually burn up beofre striking the ground.
Emergency crews and investigators have not been able to identify the source of the sound.
