Earlier this month, a meteor exploded over Texas. According to a statement from NASA’s Johnson Space Center, the meteorite had a diameter of 0.6 m and a weight of about 453 kg before it entered the atmosphere.

The meteorite, which was seen as a fireball over McAllen, Texas, on February 15, was searched after locals heard an explosion-like sound. Scientists say that the power of the explosion would be eight tons of TNT. The Texas meteorite was moving at about 27,000 miles (43,452 km) per hour when it exploded at an altitude of 21 miles (33.7 km).

The explosion of such power is particularly striking because even the largest non-nuclear warhead ever used by the United States military was only 11 tons of TNT. Although most meteorites burn up before their fragments reach the surface, the Texas meteorite is believed to have produced a few meteorites. Meteorite hunter Robert Ward discovered one of these fragments near El South, Texas.

It was the third major meteor event in three days. On February 13, a three-foot (one meter) asteroid fell when it lit up the sky over France and England. Another fireball was reported over Italy on 14 February. The Texas meteorite likely cooled quickly and poses no danger to humans, so NASA has asked anyone who finds the fragments to report them to the Smithsonian Institution.

The Smithsonian has a national meteorite collection that allows scientists to study and even study meteorite fragments to give insight into the cosmos beyond our own atmosphere. At the very least, searching for debris from the Texas meteorite could bring some closure to the lives of the residents of McAllen, Texas, where the meteorite explosion disrupted their daily lives. Source