Meteor Over Massachusetts Causes Explosion Reports, Sightings From Delaware to Montreal

A composite image depicting a Geminid meteor. Jose CABEZAS/AFP via Getty Images/STAN HONDA/AFP via Getty Images

Reports of an explosion from people across New England on Saturday afternoon sent police agencies and others scrambling to understand what caused a double boom that shook buildings in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

The American Meteor Society said that the booms people heard were actually caused by a meteor about 3 feet (nearly 1 meter) wide entering the atmosphere around the New Hampshire border with Massachusetts, north of Boston.