BOOM!
March 30th, 2009 at 12:56 am by Cheryl Nelson under Weather
It was the talk of the town tonight. Actually the talk of folks along the coast from Delaware to North Carolina. Around 9:40 PM Sunday night, there was a large flash of light in the sky and then a loud boom that shook many residents’ homes. What was it? No one knows yet. I can say there were NO storms in our area at that time. Skies were clear to partly cloudy across the region. However, coincidentally, a cold front was passing through right around that time. Winds turned from the SW to NW during that time and winds were gusting to around 35 mph. Because all the dynamics were to our north and dry air was coming in downsloping off the mountains, there was no precipitation…hence no thunder and lightning. There is probably no correlation between the cold frontal passage and the boom, but certainly interesting nonetheless. We did not feel the boom here at WAVY-TV (at the time we were all quite busy running around getting ready for our 10 PM newscast on Fox 43), but the boom was felt all around us. From the reports we’ve received, it sounds to me like it was a meteor or meteorite. I didn’t see or hear it and I’m not an astronomer, but based on my science background and information I’ve received, that is my best guess. Many of us have witnessed meteor showers before. However, there was not a “big” meteor shower happening tonight. The next major annual meteor shower, the Lyrids, is not expected to peak until April 22nd. Meteors come from meteoroids. According to www.nasa.gov, a meteoroid is a “particle or chunk of metallic or stony matter that enters the earth’s atmosphere from outer space.” The bright light/glow is created by air friction. A meteor, often called a shooting star, is that bright streak of light. A meteorite is is a meteoroid that survives the trip through the atmosphere and reaches the earth.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the morning. WAVY-TV 10 made numerous phone calls Sunday night and so far no one has an explanation. If this was a meteorite, there would have to be evidence somewhere. I’m willing to bet that there will be aerial surveys happening on Monday. If you saw/heard the light/boom, we’d love to hear your comments/stories. If you have any pictures or especially video, please email us at photos@wavy.com. Thank you!
Until then…try to get some sleep tonight…
Meteorologist Cheryl Nelson
WAVY/Fox 43 Meteorologist
The loud noise was heard quite well off Brandon Blvd in Virginia Beach. My buddy and I were heading to the store and were in the car as I was about to start it we heard the noise and thought it was thunder but there was no clouds in the sky. About two minutes later my other friends wife called and was wondering what was going on at the Oceana Base. Haha I told her I wasnt there but heard it to. She lives down by the beach so whatever it was we are all curious because I can tell you it wasnt a Navy jet or I would be at work right now!
I wish I had had my camera. This thing came right over my house. I live o Lake Road in Hertford, N.C. and it looked like a giant firework with a tail. I was just getting out of my car when my six year granddaughter told her mom someone was shooting off fireworks. I looked up but there was never a sparkle, just this bright thing with a tail, no sound, and no shaking of my house. It was actually a beautiful sight. And boy was it traveling fast. It was there, then gone! Dianne Meads
THANK YOU I felt it last night while my family was getting ready for bed….. no one believed me when I yelled “who shook the entire house!” I was told it was the wind….. !!!!!!!!!!!! WOW
Loud boom over Hampton Roads
http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_wavy_loud_boom_...
The strangest thing happen last night Over the skys of hamptonRoads there was a bright light and then a Boom sound that everyone heard but myself. I didn’t feel anything. I was on the computer most of the night and had the head phones on. Then around 10 or 10:30pm my Son comes running into the room Mom Mom something wrong with Yen (My Black Cat that I had for years she a part of me.) I’m pulled away frpom the computer I’m following my son in to the kitchen. All I could see was Yen lying on the floor passed out flat. Her eyes were wide open and could hardly breath. I almost went into a panic mood. Asking question what did she eat? what did she drink? I was think she had eat a bone from dinner. Mother was in full control {not} I was more worried about her then thinking. So most of the night I spent holding her and patting her lungs. still breathing hard trying to catch a breath. After a while she jumped up and went to her pillow. But most of the night I sent watching her. Right now she still having a shalow breathing but she move into a ball has she move from her pillow not all night. That’s got me worry wont eat anything or water as of yet.
But I was just watching our news and just wake up enough to her that they were getting reports from people that there animals were acting strange. My cat was out of it when it happen.
Sitting on my porch in Kempsville last about 9:40 when a bright light caused me to turn towards the northeast. I saw a greenish colored orb trailing gold flames. It continued through the sky but was extinguished before meeting the ground. About 1 minute afterwards I heard two booms in rapid succession.
Am I the only one to whom it seems obvious what this “mystery” was? Meteors and space debris not infrequently fall to earth and leave such bright contrails in the night sky… just not always near populated areas. And they’re traveling at supersonic speeds, so you might expect to hear a sonic boom, as we did last night. No aliens, no end of the earth… just simple physics and life in our galaxy.
I live on the Dismal Swamp in Suffolk on the N.C.line. About 9:45 I saw three flashes of light and an explosion,it exploded like a firework,the explosion was about the size of a full moon. I would say it was a large meteor. The power was off in my area so it was real dark (it always is for I live in the countryside on the Dismal Swamp),I was looking east,it exploded at about 2o’clock high from my view point over Va.Beach, it was traveling east to east south east.
Upon arriving at work I discovered the cause of last night’s sonic boom. My wife’s boss, after hearing the boom, ask her husband Mr. Danny Small if he fell out of the bed. Latter he said two fire trucks were driving down his street in Salem Woods.
About 15 years ago, my mom had a similar experience. It was during the day, so there was not a bright light, but the whole house shook. She lived near the Norfolk Naval Base off of Hampton Blvd. I was in the same area last night and around 9:45pm, I heard a boom. I was inside and my house shook like there was a thunderstorm, but it didn’t make sense because it only happened once. Also, there are articles from Henderson County, NC and Rockland County, NY reporting similar unexplained booms.
I saw the flash last night while sitting in my driveway. There were a few extremely bright flashes of white light, and– I know it sounds crazy– but it looked as though something triangular flew or shot away from the flash and “disappeared” quickly. I have no clue what it was but it was definitely bizzare!
I seem to think that something might of happend on one of the navel bases somesthing might have blowen up or somthing.
Last ninght, I saw the big flash and herd the boom! It sounded like thunder so I ran outside after realizing that I left my truck windows open and the sky was clear. Anyhow same story as everyone else, I know. I just wanted to tell you that my wife called me a few mins ago saying that people were calling The Point radio station claiming that a meteriode hit somewhere in one of the Kempsville nieghborhood. I dont know if it is true, but it could be a good leed none the less.
R/
Joe Wolz
I saw the light last night. I live in norfolk. To me it looked like a flash of lightning then a cheap firework. It moved pretty slow and did not look big. Then it disintegrated in the air very much like a firework. Then a few minutes later i heard what sounded a lot like car backfire. I didnt hear any sonic booms.
Oh My Goodness !! Is this mass hysteria or what?? I saw it while sitting on my back porch and it sat beyond my back yard tree’s for a while so it must have been heading toward us around 8:15pm after dinner because I cooked out on the grill last evening. I thaught it to be the moon because it stayed off in the distance but it was very low yet beyond the tree’s.This was about 8:15pm and us 4 adults did as we usually do and went out for an after dinner cigarette. Must have been passing directly over my house. So me and 3 other adults had watched it thinking it was the moon, and went in to watch a movie with the kids until 9:40pm last night and as Bobby (adult) stepped out after the movie he saw shooting stars that were possibly the tail end of it. We must have seen it come in from the south west heading toward VAB because we are about 4 miles in from the Suffolk line in Gates, NC. I thaught it was the moon, there was no moon last night. But the stars are bright at night out here in the country. So when the stars are out and you have a covering you see thru; it is not really considered a visual by me but the hubby saw, and when Buddy did see it was gone he had seen dozens of shooting stars. so we have a Bobby and a Buddy in the house but what were the dramatics last night??
Seems one will never know. If it reached all the way to VAB then it had to be a deteriorating metior but we were watching a movie with the kids and heard no sonic boomb, nor did we have our house shake any. But right after the after dinner smoke I had to rush to the restroom with a nausiated stomach and went to bed with a terrible headache.Woke around 4am with an even worse headache, so it did cause me to feel ill whatever it was. I finally got a little rest after all that hysteria in my body, but now we need to see if anyone else was naucious during that time frame because it could be filled with radiation. Good luck Wavy TV crew on finding out “The Mystery In The Sky” !!
Janet Jenkins
Gates, North Carolina resident.
P.S. I am still a little nausiated, no not by the story, but from something odd in the atmosphere.
Janet Jenkins, 770 Willeyton Rd. Gates,NC. 27937, maybe it will help with demographics while this is being investigated more so WAVYTV crews and anchors with “Tonight’s Top Story” Good Luck !!
I live in Portsmouth and I was out on my deck last night and I seen something red way up in the sky and it looked like it was flashing and then several minutes later I heard a loud boom off in the distance.At first when I heard the boom and felt the vibration at first I thought there was a storm brewing off in the distance. I did not put the two together the red object and boom until I heard the news this morning and found out we were not the only people to witnesss this. My daughter was complaining of hearing several loud booms before I heard anything. I seen something way up in the sky several minutes before I heard a boom. My daughter came running out of her bedroom and went outside to see where the noise was coming from that she was hearing. She heard several very loud booms that hurt her ears, she said they were very low pitched but extremely loud. I only heard one boom but my dogs were going nuts last night. I called my other daugther who also lives in Portsmouth this morning and her and her husband said that they heard several loud booms also and that their house shook.
I was the flash. I live in Greenville, NC. It seemed like it was just a few miles away. I thought someone was playing with fireworks but it was just the one. It will be interesting to see what others saw.
I saw the flash. I live in Greenville, NC. It seemed like it was just a few miles away. I thought someone was playing with fireworks but it was just the one. It will be interesting to see what others saw.
Last night I was driving, about 5 minutes away from my house when I saw the flash. I was a little confused because the stars were out. When I was walking to my front door, I then heard the boom. I was still outside so I don’t know if my house shook..but it scared me to death, because I’ve never heard a noise like that before. And it was weird that it took so long after the flash to make that noise, which definitely did not sound like thunder. My roommate at that time was on 64 East driving past Hampton Coliseum. He came home around 10:20 freaking out asking if I had heard anything. He saw what looked to be a meteorite in the sky in an orange color. I was looking at comments from people on hamptonroads.com….the story sounds a little outrageous but someone across the Cheseapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel reported that they drove up to a 50ft crater and started digging. They said they found a refridgerator with Korean writing on it. I’m not sure if the story has any truth to it. But you never know these days. There are many reports on that website.
Hi,
Approximately, about 9:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., there was a flash in sky. I was in the area of Wakefield, VA when this firing light appaired out of sky. It must had landed in Wakefield or towards the Windsor/Franklin area.
Sharon
Based on the sound I heard, and the reports, this is classic for a meteorite. I have seen and heard a few myself, though this was the loudest sound I have heard produced from one yet. The double clap I heard was typical of a near event, with distinct passage between the two sounds. The odd thing, for me, was my dog. He was antsy for about thirty seconds before the boom. Sleeping peacefully, he had perked up with his ears straight up, cocking his head side to side as if he were listening to something very distant. We had our windows open to catch the nice breeze last night, so it was especially loud, and we could actually “feel” it.
Me, my husband, and kids were taking one of my sons brother home from spending
the weekend, Sunday night around 9:30. Just when we got near Oyster Point Rd.
and Jefferson Ave. we saw a bright light and a loud boom, that appeared to be
thunder. I looked at the weather report on my cell, and I did not see anything on the radar. So I began to examine the sky, and did not see the light again, nor any rain. When we got home and looked at wavy at 11:00 that
is when everyone was talking about the bright light. Whatever it was it was
bright white and a loud boom, that only lasted about 3 seconds.
Wow. So I guess me and my friends were not the only ones to hear it, heh heh. I was just sitting at home then i her BOOM…the house shakes a little. I’m like, wow this TV got a great sound system =D. Then I call my friend out of curiosity, he lives on the border of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, and he said he heard the boom and felt it as well. Then when I go to call my sister, who was traveling back to UVA at the time, she said she heard it, felt it, and even saw a flash in the sky. I call two other friends saying that they’ve gone through the same. Man i can only wonder what it could be if it wasn’t a meteorite…..
I too heard the noise however it sounded like multiple loud gun shots. I live in James City County at Colonial Heritage. The bangs sounded like it was behind the club house.
i was in my house on sparrow road towards norfolk and the wind was blowing really hard and then i hear a loud noise. it honestly sounded like a tree fell on my house. i didnt know until this morning that Everyone heard the same noise. maybe it was a meteor. it daytime now. it would be easier to see…
At 9:45 PM last night I was on my porch in Greenbrier,Chesapeake. I saw a ball of fire go over my house and off towards Virginia Beach. It appeard to be flying low, maybe about 20 feet above the house and trees. It was about a minute or so that I heard a loud boom. The phone rang and it was my daughter who was watching TV in bed in the dark that said a white light lit her bed room up and a little latter a boom shock the house. My first thuoght was that we were under attack. Doesn’t the military have any idea what it was?
While I was sitting in my house last night around 9:45 P.M. in the courthouse area of VA Beach, I saw a bright flash of light pass near my house. It started off as a greenish glow, but quickly I saw that it was white. I went back to my room, and a less than a minute later, I heard one loud boom. It sounded almost like a jet or thunder, but since there were no clouds, I assumed it was some sort of meteorite or space junk. I also felt nauseous and couldn’t get to sleep for the rest of the night.
I live in Greenrun, Subdivison Amberly Forest. I had upstairs windows open and shades up. I saw a flash like lightening and then a few seconds later an explosion that now I feel was a sonic boom.
At 1:10am on August 11th, 2009 there was a huge bright flash followed 4-5 seconds later by a long, rumbling boom in Chesapeake, Virginia. It is odd that it happened again. Did anyone else experience this?