Meteor causes ‘boom’ that rattles Salt Lake Valley

SALT LAKE CITY — A large boom was heard, and felt, by people all over the Salt Lake Valley and beyond on Saturday morning. The intensity of the noise led to many thinking it was an earthquake of some sort. It has since been confirmed that the cause of the boom was a meteor.

We’ve received many reports of people feeling or hearing a “boom” ~8:32 am. We can confirm that it was not an earthquake.

— UUSS (@UUSSquake) August 13, 2022

A video was captured of a meteor in the sky. The National Weather Service confirmed that the meteor was the cause of the noise. Allegedly, the boom rattled Northern Utah just a minute after this video was recorded.

In addition to satellite lightning detection picking up on the flash/tail, we’ve now got video confirmation of the meteor heard across northern Utah, southern Idaho and elsewhere this morning. #utwx #idwx #wywx https://t.co/tG9NZHWWZo

— NWS Salt Lake City (@NWSSaltLakeCity) August 13, 2022

The meteor is still just the best guess as to what caused the boom. NASA Ambassador for Utah, Patrick Wiggins, tells KSL TV that it sounds like a meteor, and that there is a chance rocks are lying around in Utah. 

Snowbasin Resort tweeted a video of a meteor it spotted this morning, just before the loud boom.

Did you hear that loud boom this morning? Our web cams captured this meteor flying over Snowbasin! ☄️ pic.twitter.com/Dgv0W2Vd4H

— Snowbasin Resort (@SnowbasinResort) August 13, 2022

This possible meteor sighting and hit come during the annual Perseid meteor showers, which are set to be at their peak tonight.

With claims of people experiencing the noise from Lehi to Roy, the cause had a lot of people confused. Some speculated that the noise may have come from Hill Air Force Base fighter planes.

Loud “BOOM” heard all over the valley. We don’t know the cause but are checking with the military. Please don’t overwhelm dispatch.

— CH Police (@CHPolice) August 13, 2022

The guess isn’t far off. HAFB is known for breaking the sound barrier and sending booms across Utah’s valleys.

Gov. Spencer Cox addressed the ‘boom’ on his Twitter. 

Heard this while out on a run in SLC. We have confirmed it was not seismic/earthquake and not related to our military instillations. This is likely the best theory. https://t.co/mEGfjtveNE

— Spencer Cox (@SpencerJCox) August 13, 2022

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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