Meteor confirmed as source of loud boom heard over Utah, Idaho, Wyoming
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — The National Weather Service in Salt Lake confirmed the source of a loud boom heard from northern Utah, southern Idaho and part of Wyoming was a meteor exploding upon entry of Earth's atmosphere.
Dozens of people have reported hearing a loud boom over the Utah skies. Several said the boom shook their houses or buildings.
The loud noise happened around 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning.
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Salt Lake Valley emergency dispatchers said they had also multiple reports of a loud boom, but knew of no incidents that would have been attributed to the noise.
Officials at the University of Utah Seismology Stations were also taking calls about the noise and confirmed it was not caused by an earthquake.
Officials with NWS Salt Lake City said satellite lightning detection systems picked up the flash and tail of the meteor. A Utah resident's porch video also captured video of the celestial event.
The meteor's tail was seen through a gap in the clouds for 3-4 seconds as it shot through the sky.
2News employee Matt Blank posted porch video that captured the boom.
“My money is on high altitude meteor that blew up when it hit the atmosphere,” he tweeted.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox replied to Blank’s video, saying that was likely the best theory.
“Heard this while out on a run in SLC,” Cox tweeted. “We have confirmed it was not seismic/earthquake and not related to our military instillations.”
Officials with the Utah National Guard also tweeted to say the boom was not part of training.
"The UTNG can confirm that the 'large boom' heard this morning was NOT from any military training at Camp Williams," they tweeted.
