Loud boom heard across Arizona skies, was that an asteroid's mid-air explosion?

On Sunday, local residents in Arizona reported hearing a loud boom in the skies. The boom created panic among residents in the area, and many of them believed that it could be due to an earthquake. However, local authorities revealed that the boom was the result of an asteroid or meteor that burned up in the Earth's atmosphere.

Loud boom due to a mid-air explosion

American Meteor Society website revealed that they received a total of 17 eyewitness reports regarding the incident. Some of the eyewitnesses claimed to have seen a bright light in the skies during the time of the loud boom. These witnesses also made it clear that the bright light was apparently travelling in a mindblowing speed.

Local authorities revealed that agencies are still investigating the real cause of the incident. However, after analyzing witness statements, they made it clear that the loud boom could be most probably the result of a meteor's mid-air explosion.

Is Earth facing threat from space?

It was around 66 million years back that a giant asteroid hit the Earth and resulted in the extinction of dinosaurs. Since then, no such space rocks have reached the vicinity of the Earth. However, top space experts like Dr Iain McDonald believes that the possibilities of such an event cannot be ruled out.

As per McDonald, devastating events like asteroid hits are not confined to the past, and it will happen in the future too. Popular American physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson also has a similar opinion. Recently, Tyson had revealed that the extinction of life on the Earth will mostly happen due to an asteroid hit.

In order to prevent such a doomsday scenario, NASA, the United States space agency is tracking near-Earth objects that could potentially hit the Earth one day or the other. The space agency is also developing a planetary defense weapon to deflect approaching asteroids from its collision course.