unilad homepage
  • News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Doorbell camera captures sonic boom as half-ton meteor crashes in Texas

Home> News

Updated 16:50 21 Feb 2023 GMTPublished 15:59 21 Feb 2023 GMT

Doorbell camera captures sonic boom as half-ton meteor crashes in Texas

NASA issued a statement assuring the public that meteors present a minimal risk

Emma Guinness

Emma Guinness

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover

We all know that doorbell cameras have captured some pretty interesting things since they came to be, but almost none of them have captured anything quite so out of this world.

The unbelievable footage was captured by a doorcam in Texas and it was so shocking that NASA of all places got involved.

The footage above shows what looks like any other Texas yard, only things take a dramatic turn when a sonic boom can be heard - scaring off the sitting birds.

Advert

In case you're familiar with sonic booms, they are created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound, so you can see why the birds were startled.

The object in this instance just so happened to be a half-ton meteor (that's one which weighs almost 454 kg) and the whole thing has now been confirmed by NASA.

The meteor began to break apart as it entered the Earth's atmosphere at about 6:00pm on 15 February before crashing near McAllen, Texas, according to local media.

Assuring the public that there is little risk to their safety, NASA said in a statement: "Although meteorites tend to hit Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds, they slow as they travel through the atmosphere, breaking into small fragments before hitting the ground. Meteorites cool rapidly and generally are not a risk to the public."

Meteors present a minimal risk to the public.
Alamy / Witold Krasowski

As well as assuring the public, the space agency shared a report about the incident as well as an image of where the pieces of the meteor are likely to have landed.

"The meteor seen in the skies above McAllen is a reminder of the need for NASA and other organisations to increase our understanding and protection of Earth, to combine scientific and engineering expertise to advance human space exploration, to integrate terrestrial and planetary research for furthering our understanding of the solar system, and to promote successful space missions by mitigating risk," NASA said.

News of the meteor was also reported by numerous members of the public, and the flash it created was captured by what's known as a Geostationary Lightning Mapper just before 5:30pm.

Just like you'd imagine from the name, the lightning mapper is more traditionally used to map lightning, but NWS confirmed that there was no thunderstorm activity in the area at the time the image was captured.

Reacting to the incredible doorcam footage, one viewer wrote: "Strange how animals pick up the danger cue much faster than humans."

"Idk why but I was expecting it to hit the car," added a second, while a third remarked: "I thought the bird was being sucked into a meteor vortex."

A fourth couldn't help but joke: "Imagine trying to explain that to your insurance company."

Featured Image Credit: @disdikmark/Twitter/NASA

Topics: US News

Emma Guinness
Emma Guinness

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

28 mins ago
an hour ago
18 hours ago
  • Alex Wong/Getty Images
    28 mins ago

    Trump makes U-turn and removes sanctions on Iranian oil in desperate effort to fix gas prices

    Oil prices have skyrocketed since the war in Iran, and Trump has now U-turned on sanctions

    News
  • Jesse Grant/Variety via Getty Images
    an hour ago

    Lisa Kudrow explains why she's done with botox after experiencing strange side effects

    Kudrow said she started using botox for the first time when she was 60

    Celebrity
  • Sag Harbor Police Dept
    an hour ago

    Justin Timberlake stumbles through field sobriety test during DWI arrest in newly released footage

    The 'Mirrors' hitmaker was arrested in 2024 for drink driving

    Celebrity
  • Jun Seong Yi
    18 hours ago

    New dinosaur species found in South Korea in groundbreaking discovery

    Scientists found the new dinosaur using X-ray scanning

    News
  • Doorbell camera captures sonic boom as half-ton meteor crashes in Texas
  • Meteor explosion in Earth’s atmosphere captured on camera in space for 'first time ever'
  • Father dies while trying to save family in Texas floods as fiancée reveals his heartbreaking last words
  • Kansas City Chiefs owner's family loses 9-year-old girl in Texas flood as they release heartbreaking statement