Bright Flash And Loud Boom Ignite Meteor Speculation In Great Lakes Region

A flash of bright light, followed by a boom, filled the night skies over parts of Michigan on Tuesday, prompting speculation that a meteor had streaked by.

Residents in Detroit, Flint, Ann Arbor and other cities in southeast Michigan reported hearing and seeing the “boom and flash in the sky” about 8:15 p.m. Some said they felt their homes shake. Pictures were reportedly knocked off walls.

Preliminary reports suggest people nearby states, including Illinois and Ohio, as well as across the border in Ontario, also saw something unusual in the sky about the same time.

The National Weather Service in Detroit suggested the flash could’ve been caused by a meteor, though they said they couldn’t confirm that to be the case.

“After looking at various observational datasets, [the NWS has] confirmed that it was not lightning or thunder, but instead a possible meteor or some other astronomical activity,” Rich Pollman, a meteorologist at NWS Detroit, told HuffPost.

This is a developing story. Check back for more details.