Cameras in the Pittsburgh area captured a bright meteor streaking across the sky on Tuesday morning.
The National Weather Service’s Pittsburgh office said it received reports from across western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio of loud booms and a fireball in the sky. Satellite data suggests it was caused by a meteor, the NWS said.
NASA said the asteroid, which was nearly six feet in diameter and weighed about seven tons, became visible at an altitude of 50 miles above Lake Erie.
Zooming through the sky at 45,000 miles per hour, the fireball traveled more than 30 miles through the upper atmosphere before it fragmented near Medina, Ohio, releasing an energy of 350 tons of TNT and resulting in booms that were heard on the ground. Some people’s homes even shook, NASA said.
Where was the meteor seen?
Allegheny County Emergency Services shared a video on social media from one of its security cameras, which captured the meteor at 8:56 a.m. Allegheny County said its 911 center received calls from around the county reporting a fireball in the sky.
Jared Rackley, a National Weather Service employee, captured the meteor on camera from the Pittsburgh area. A camera in north Baldwin also captured the meteor around 9 a.m.
A camera in the Pittsburgh area captured a fireball streaking across the sky the morning of March 17, 2026.
(Photo: Colleen M.)
KDKA has seen people reporting the meteor in areas like Hermitage, Oakmont, Clarion County and Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. NASA said it also fielded reports of the fireball in Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Virginia and D.C.
What is a meteor?
According to NASA, a meteor happens when a rock enters the Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds and burns up. If a meteor survives its trip to the ground, it’s called a meteorite. Scientists estimate that about 48.5 tons of meteoritic material falls on Earth every day, though almost all of it is vaporized in the atmosphere, leaving behind trails that we call shooting stars.
The fireball comes as Pittsburgh is experiencing a strange stretch of weather. High winds left nearly 300,000 people without power on Friday, the high temperature reached 70 degrees on Sunday, and several inches of snow fell on Monday, resulting in school closures and delays across the area on Tuesday. The meteor adds another twist to the past week of weather.
More from CBS News