People totally freaked out over the meteor above Michigan

The National Weather Service in Detroit said the flash was "a likely meteor."
 By 
Shannon Connellan
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Was it … Superman? No, but the super bright light in the sky certainly freaked people out.

Residents of southeast Michigan reported a white ball of light paired with a loud boom on Tuesday night, capturing some seriously impressive footage of the event around 8:15 p.m. ET.

The National Weather Service in Detroit, although yet to issue an official statement, said the flash was "not thunder or lightning, but instead a likely meteor."

NASA defines a meteor as "a space rock that becomes so hot it glows when it passes into Earth’s atmosphere," which definitely fits the bill with the videos people uploaded to social media.

According to the United States Geological Survey, the meteor caused the equivalent of a magnitude 2.0 earthquake on the ground.

Mike Austin captured the event on his dashcam on the I-75 near Bloomfield Hills.

Kevin McCombs captured the bright light in a video shared by Local 4 News reporter Jason Colthorp.

Morenci local David Meckley caught the flash on security cameras.

More folks hit Twitter with multiple videos of the event.

Non-profit scientific organization The American Meteor Society (AMS), which allows people to report meteors and the like, saw its server overloaded after the event.

The AMS received 355 reports of the fireball over seven states.

"This was a very slow moving meteor – speed of about 28,000 miles per hour (45,000km/hour)," the AMS wrote in a re-cap of the event.

"This fact, combined with the brightness of the meteor (which suggests a fairly big space rock), shows that the object penetrated deep into the atmosphere before it broke apart (which produced the sounds heard by at least 77 observers). It is likely that there are meteorites on the ground near this region."

NASA's SPoRT, a project that shares research with the operational weather community, tweeted data captured by its lightning mapper at the time of the flash.

Update: This story was updated with more information about the fireball event.

A photo portrait of a journalist with blonde hair and a band t-shirt.
Shannon Connellan
UK Editor

Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.

Mashable Potato

Recommended For You

How to watch Michigan vs. UCLA online for free
Eric Dailey Jr. of the UCLA Bruins celebrates a basket

How to watch Michigan vs. Duke online for free
Yaxel Lendeborg of the Michigan Wolverines shoots a free throw

How to watch Michigan vs. Illinois online for free
Yaxel Lendeborg of the Michigan Wolverines shoots a free throw

'Over Your Dead Body' trailer: Samara Weaving and Jason Segel are a totally toxic couple
Over Your Dead Body poster cropped

More in Science
How to watch Chelsea vs. Port Vale online for free
Alejandro Garnacho of Chelsea reacts

How to watch 'Wuthering Heights' at home: Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi's controversial romance now streaming
Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi embracing in still from "Wuthering Heights"

How to watch New York Islanders vs. Philadelphia Flyers online for free
Matthew Schaefer of the New York Islanders warms up

How to watch Mexico vs. Belgium online for free
Israel Reyes of Mexico reacts

How to watch Brazil vs. Croatia online for free
Vinicius Junior #10 of Brazil leaves

Trending on Mashable
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 3, 2026
Connections game on a smartphone

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 3, 2026
Wordle game on a smartphone

Google launches Gemma 4, a new open-source model: How to try it
Google Gemma


NYT Strands hints, answers for April 3, 2026
A game being played on a smartphone.
The biggest stories of the day delivered to your inbox.
These newsletters may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. By clicking Subscribe, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Thanks for signing up. See you at your inbox!