NASA confirms exploding meteor caused the sonic boom over Boston

NASA 证实波士顿上空的音爆由流星爆炸引起

On Saturday, at around 2:06 pm ET, a meteor streaked over the northeastern US and exploded north of Cape Cod Bay. The fireball was caught on camera by several people, shook houses, and can even be seen clearly in satellite imagery, lighting up the sky. 周六下午 2 点 06 分（美东时间）左右，一颗流星划过美国东北部上空，并在科德角湾以北发生爆炸。这颗火球被多人拍摄记录下来，爆炸震动了房屋，甚至在卫星图像中清晰可见，照亮了天空。

Some residents initially thought that the shaking and boom may have been an earthquake, but the United States Geological Survey (USGS) denied that, saying that it was a “widely felt sonic boom from a suspected bolide.” In a statement posted on X, NASA described the event as a “bright fireball… accompanied by a loud noise.” 一些居民起初以为震动和巨响是地震所致，但美国地质调查局（USGS）否认了这一说法，称这是一种“由疑似火流星引起的、波及范围广泛的音爆”。NASA 在 X 上发布的一份声明中将此次事件描述为“一颗明亮的火球……并伴有巨大的声响”。

The meteor was traveling at roughly 75,000 miles per hour when, according to NASA, it “appears to have fragmented at an altitude of 40 miles over northeast MA and southeast NH. The energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT, which accounts for the loud noise.” 据 NASA 称，这颗流星以大约每小时 75,000 英里的速度飞行时，“似乎在马萨诸塞州东北部和新罕布什尔州东南部上空 40 英里的高度解体。解体时释放的能量估计相当于约 300 吨 TNT 当量，这解释了为何会产生巨大的声响。”

NASA’s deputy news chief Jennifer Dooren also told AFP in a statement that, “This fireball was not associated with any currently active meteor shower, but it was a natural object and not a re-entry of space debris or a satellite.” NASA 副新闻主管詹妮弗·多伦（Jennifer Dooren）在给法新社的一份声明中也表示：“这颗火球与目前任何活跃的流星雨无关，它是一个自然天体，并非太空碎片或卫星的再入大气层。”