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Loud boom heard in Rio Grande Valley believed to be meteor

Texans reported that they felt the ‘earth shake,’ police say

There's been reports of a possible meteorite this evening west of McAllen. - NWS Brownsville (National Weather Service - Brownsville)

MISSION, Texas – A flash of light and loud boom reported in the skies near McAllen on Wednesday night is thought to be a meteor.

Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra said he was told by “federal partners that Houston Air Traffic Control received reports from two aircrafts that they saw a meteorite west of McAllen. Where the exact point of impact is unknown.”

Guerra tweeted overnight that no reports of damage had been received from the area.

The National Weather Service also confirmed a possible meteor sighting.

“One of the satellite tools we use is the Geostationary Lightning Mapper & it measures lightning as observed from space. GLM detected a signal at 523 PM with no storms around. No official confirmation yet,” NWS Brownsville said in a tweet.

Information from the NWS shows the signal from the lightning mapper appeared around 5:23 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.

Mission Police Chief Cesar Torres told ValleyCentral that the station started receiving calls just before 6 p.m. from hundreds of citizens who “heard the earth shake.”

A Facebook post from the City of Mission states that the exact location of impact is unknown.

Update: NASA confirms loud boom in Rio Grande Valley was 1,000-pound meteor; several meteorites found

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