There are no reports from any government agency confirming a meteor or asteroid strike in the Midland area. Neither NASA nor NOAA reported a meteor impact locally.
MIDLAND, Texas — You may have seen posts circulating on social media claiming an asteroid or meteor struck near Midland and Ector County early Sunday morning.
According to the posts, videos timestamped just after 2:38 a.m. appeared to capture a loud boom that several residents reported hearing. Some posts claimed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed a baseball-sized meteor landed in an open field near the Midland–Ector County line close to Faudree Road.
Those same posts alleged the impact caused seismic activity measuring 3.2 on the Richter scale, sparked small fires that were extinguished by a volunteer fire department, and produced an explosion equivalent to 2.2 tons of TNT.
There are no reports from any government agency confirming a meteor or asteroid strike in the Midland area. Neither NASA nor NOAA reported a meteor impact locally.
Data from the U.S. Geological Survey also does not show a 3.2-magnitude earthquake at that time. The most recent seismic event recorded near Midland was a much smaller 1.4-magnitude quake reported in southeast Midland on Saturday.
Searches of official meteor and fireball logs, including the American Meteor Society fireball database, do show fireball events across the United States, but none are logged for Midland or Ector County during the timeframe in question.
We also contacted the City of Midland. Officials said there were no investigations related to the incident by Midland police or the Midland Fire Department.
Some residents speculated the noise may have been caused by a transformer or another type of electrical explosion. NewsWest 9 reached out to Oncor Energy, which reported no equipment failures in the area at that time.
For now, the source of the loud boom remains a mystery. We’ll continue working to find answers and will share updates as more information becomes available.
NewsWest 9 ‘s Sonji Milburn will have more at 6 p.m.