A meteor entered Earth’s atmosphere over the northeastern United States at approximately 13:01 UTC on March 17, producing a bright fireball visible in daylight conditions and a loud sonic boom reported across western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.
Reports of a loud explosion-like sound were received across a wide area, with observers describing a sharp boom and, in some cases, brief shaking consistent with an atmospheric shockwave. The geographic spread of reports suggests the event occurred at high altitude, allowing both visual and acoustic effects to propagate over multiple states.
The fireball was recorded by Jared Rackley, one of the NWS Pittsburgh employees.
The event was also confirmed using satellite-based Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) data, which recorded a short-duration optical flash consistent with a high-energy atmospheric entry.
GLM instruments, designed primarily to detect lightning activity, are capable of capturing transient optical emissions associated with meteors when the brightness exceeds detection thresholds. In this case, the recorded signal aligned temporally with public reports of the fireball and subsequent acoustic disturbance.
Daytime fireballs are less frequently observed than nighttime events due to reduced contrast against the sky, but larger or faster meteoroids can produce sufficient luminosity to remain visible under daylight conditions.
No confirmed reports of injuries, structural damage, or meteorite recovery have been issued as of the time of writing.