According to confirmed reports by NASA, a meteor weighing nearly 1,000 pounds has collided with the ground in Southern Texas.
Fox station KDFW stated that NASA confirmed that the meteor broke apart as it descended through the atmosphere before landing near the McAllen, Texas area near 6 pm local time on Wednesday.
NASA released a statement about this situation that stated the following: Although meteorites tend to hit Earths atmosphere at high speeds, they slow as they travel through the atmosphere, breaking into small fragments before hitting the ground. Meteorites cool rapidly and generally are not a risk to the public.
The space agency also posted a report about the incident with the meteor as well as a map of where it likely came to land. They had to make approximated guesses about some of this information as it wasnt clear at the time of the report exactly where the object would land. However, the approximated data they released to the public was still valuable because it gave the public something to look at and comfort. At least they had some information that they could rely on.
The National Weather Service, located in Brownsville/Rio Grande Valley, reported that multiple people sent reports stating that they had witnessed a possible meteor near the skies of McAllen. There were also flashes of the meteor captured by a Geostationary Lightning Mapper just before 5:30 pm.
Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra posted on Twitter that two air traffic controllers near Houston informed him that they had also witnessed the meteor in the skies near McAllen.
NASA made another statement on the situation and said:
The meteor seen in the skies above McAllen is a reminder of the need for NASA and other organizations to increase our understanding and protection of Earth, to combine 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 promote successful space missions by mitigating risk.
It was certainly something that caused quite a stir of excitement among the people in the area, which got a lot of people talking and interested in what might happen next.
Login