Washington County residents saw the sky light up from what may have been a meteor on Thursday night, accompanied by reports of a loud boom.
Video cameras captured a flash of green light in the sky and people heard the sound in various parts of the county. Others reportedly felt the earth shaking in Robbinston around the same time.
Henry Berry, a senior geologist at the Maine Geological Survey, said it’s possible the videos showed a meteor in the upper atmosphere. Meteors closer to Earth would likely have visible objects streaking by.
But seismic records don’t show any unusual activity at the time, and Berry said the source of the boom — and whether the meteor actually struck the Earth – may never be known.
There’s always minor noise happening underground, and Berry said it’s unlikely the boom came from a frost quake because of weather conditions.
The surveys didn’t find anything unusual at the time, though Berry said there’s always minor noise happening underground. It’s unlikely the boom came from a frost heave because of weather conditions.
“[It’s] going to be a mystery, and we’re probably not going to figure it out,” Berry said. “A lot of stuff happens up there that we can’t really track.”
The American Meteor Society also predicted that 8 p.m. on Thursday was the best time to see theta Trianguli Australids, a single star in the constellation Triangulum Australe. It’s classified as the weakest type, but still visible to the naked eye, according to the society.
Numerous “fireball reports” were also submitted to the society on Thursday night, spanning from Old Town to over the Canadian border in New Brunswick.
It’s not the first time the area has been excited by the possibility of encountering meteors.
Robin Hadlock Seeley captured the flash of light on a north-facing video camera in Pembroke just after 8 p.m. on Thursday. Over the last two months, she has recorded other possible meteors, but said this one would be the largest if it turned out to be a meteor.
On social media, people from Alexander to the coast reported seeing the light and hearing the sound. A clammer said it lit up the entire beach while he was working.
Five meteorites are known to have struck Maine, but it’s difficult to confirm them by finding the place where they struck. Washington County was the site of some meteor fever two years ago when radar showed they had fallen over the area.
The Maine Mineral and Gem Museum, which has a meteorite collection, offered a bounty for any signs of them, though none have been found yet.
Still, Berry said, people’s reactions and observations are the interesting part.
“You have no idea how much I wished I were outside and not taking a nap inside at that moment,” Seeley said.