A virtually 1,000-pound meteor measuring two feet wide crashed into South Texas on Wednesday, in line with reports.
Fox station KDFW in Dallas reported that NASA confirmed the meteor broke apart because it fell through the atmosphere to its resting place near McAllen, Texas, at about 6 p.m.
“Although meteorites are likely to hit Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds, they slow as they travel through the atmosphere, breaking into small fragments before hitting the bottom. Meteorites cool rapidly and customarily aren’t a risk to the general public,” NASA said in an announcement.
The space agency posted a report of the incident together with a map showing an area where pieces of the meteor likely landed.
KDFW posted a video captured from a house security camera with birds scattering and the sound of a sonic boom.
In accordance with the National Weather Service in Brownsville/Rio Grande Valley, multiple people reported a possible meteor within the sky west of McAllen. The weather agency also reported that the flash from the meteor was captured by a Geostationary Lightning Mapper right before 5:30 p.m.
The lightning mapper satellite measures lightning from space, and in a Facebook post on Wednesday, the NWS said there was no thunderstorm activity in the realm when the meteor crashed.
Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra posted to Twitter that he was informed by air traffic controllers in Houston that two aircraft reported that additionally they saw a meteor within the sky near McAllen.
“The meteor seen within the skies above McAllen is a reminder of the necessity for NASA and other organizations to extend our understanding and protection of Earth, to mix scientific and engineering expertise to advance human space exploration, to integrate terrestrial and planetary research for furthering our understanding of the solar system, and to advertise successful space missions by mitigating risk,” NASA said.