Seven-ton meteor that fell from the Cleveland sky could be seen several states away
By Associated Press - Tuesday, March 17, 2026
CLEVELAND, Ohio — A 7-ton meteor that sped across the Cleveland sky at 45,000 miles (72,420 kilometers) per hour on Tuesday before breaking apart in a thunderous boom startled residents who feared an explosion.
People several states away reported seeing the bright fireball even though it was 9 a.m. The American Meteor Society said it received reports from Wisconsin to Maryland. NASA later confirmed that it was a meteor nearly 6 feet (1.83 meters) in diameter.
“This one really does look like it’s a fireball, which means it’s a meteorite — a small asteroid,” said astronomer Carl Hergenrother, the group’s executive director.
“So much stuff is being launched that a lot of times what you see burning up is just reentering satellites. But usually those don’t get especially bright,” he said.
The meteor was first seen about 50 miles above Lake Erie, near Lorain. It traveled more than 34 miles (55 kilometers) through the upper atmosphere before fragmenting over Valley City, north of Medina, NASA said in a statement from Bill Cooke, who leads the agency’s Meteoroid Environments Office in Huntsville, Alabama.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/mar/17/meteor-fell-cleveland-sky-could-seen-several-states-away/
