On Saturday, May 30, 2026, many residents along the coast of Massachusetts described a loud, thunderous boom just after 2:00 p.m. Although many had varying ideas of what the blast could be at the moment, astronomers later discovered that a 5.6 ton meteor impacted Cape Cod Bay.
Per a recent report from NASA, the object that struck in the Bay was an iron meteorite, about 5 feet in diameter and measuring 5.6 metric tons. The meteor reached velocities of over 40,000 miles per hour, and the energy it produced was equivalent to the detonation of 230 tons of TNT. In addition, the impact created a large flash that could later be detected by satellites, like in the image above.
Leading up to the explosion, residents from Delaware to Montreal could reportedly experience the effects of the meteor crossing through the atmosphere. Due to the meteor’s immense velocity, it created a sonic boom that could be heard for miles.
Although people residing along the coast of Massachusetts and the Cape Cod Bay later learned that the meteor’s sonic boom was the cause of the explosion at 2:11 p.m. on Saturday after reports surfaced, at the moment there were varying theories on what the explosion could have been. Some believed the sonic boom was thunder, while others theorized the shockwave was due to an explosion.
Landy Vittorini, a resident of Hingham and a student at HHS describes that,“At that moment, I thought that the sonic boom was some kind of explosion near my house or the firing of a gun. It did not cross my mind that the explosion could have been the result of a meteor.”
Recorded at 41° 52 ‘39.1″N 70° 21’ 08.6″W, the location of the meteor’s strike comes at roughly 33 miles away from the southernmost border of Hingham.
Sam Ferrara, an HHS student describes,”I thought it was a very interesting and cool experience knowing that [the meteor] struck so close to Hingham”
Although the idea of a space rock impacting just over 30 miles away from Hingham would seemingly be a part of the plot for a fictional sci-fi movie, it is remarkable that residents experienced the effects of something out of this world.
