Shocking New Details Emerge About Meteorite That Crashed In Texas

Earlier this week, South Texas residents heard a "loud explosion" that local officials confirmed was a meteorite. Now, NASA is weighing in with new details about the mysterious crash.

Residents shared videos on social media where you can see a light streaking through the sky followed by a loud boom that even shook some houses. Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra confirmed that a meteorite was spotted west of McAllen on Wednesday (February 16) and the National Weather Service in Brownsville corroborated this with a signal that was detected on the Geostationary Lightning Mapper shortly after 5:20 p.m.

NASA confirmed these reports of the "atmospheric fireball." In a news release, NASA experts said they believe the object was a meteoroid that was about 2 feet long and weighed about 1,000 pounds. "The angle and speed of entry, along with signatures in weather radar imagery, are consistent with other naturally occurring meteorite falls," NASA said. "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."

Small asteroids enter the atmosphere above the U.S. once or twice a year, NASA added.

NASA also shared a strewn field, radar summary and exact location of where the meteoroid crashed.

The meteoroid touched down at the following location: 26°35'32.1"N 98°37'47.8"W, which is located in Rio Grande City.

The strewn field shows an estimate of the meteor's direction and descent angle.

The radar summary shows the radar signature of falling meteorites.

You can take a look below of local residents' videos of the meteoroid: