UMVA has learned that a thunderous boom ripped through Massachusetts and Rhode Island on Saturday, sending a wave of frantic 911 calls across the region.
Witnesses from towns as far apart as Melrose and Wellesley describe the sound as a massive explosion that rattled every wall and rattled windows, far louder than any transformer failure and unmistakably not an earthquake.
One resident in Cambridge captured the eerie double‑bang on a dashcam, the video later echoing the shock felt by dozens of neighbors who swore the ground shivered beneath them.
According to information obtained by UMVA, meteorologist Nick Stewart identified the phenomenon as a bolide— a sizable meteor blazing through the atmosphere and detonating with a flash captured by satellite sensors.
The satellite’s flash density product revealed a distinct, bright flash east of Boston, a signature pattern that matches only intense meteoric entries, confirming the source of the deafening boom.
Calls poured into emergency lines as people feared exploding transformers or falling trees, but the celestial visitor burned up high above, leaving only a lingering echo and a sky streaked with a brief, fierce glow.
