Meteorologist Weighs in After Mysterious ‘Double Boom’ Sparks Panic in Massachusetts (VIDEO)

Massachusetts and Rhode Island residents heard a mysterious loud boom on Saturday, prompting a flood of 911 calls.

WCVB reported:

Did you hear or feel it? Viewers from across Massachusetts are reporting hearing a loud boom Saturday afternoon, but it’s not immediately clear what it was.

Viewers shared similar experiences with WCVB, thinking a tree hit their home or a transformer blew up just after 2 p.m.

” … the whole house, actually all houses in the neighborhood shook. Much louder than a transformer exploding and definitely not an earthquake,” one viewer from Melrose wrote.

“We live in Wellesley and just heard what sounded like an explosion about 10 minutes ago. We understand it was felt over many areas,” another viewer wrote.

One Cambridge resident captured the loud boom on a dashcam.

WATCH:

Explosion sound heard in Boston Cambridge MA registered as an impact on my dashcam. You can hear a double bang. #explosion #boston #cambridge not a scientist, but it sounds like a sonicboom to me. Leaves on the tree don’t move at all. Might be a clue pic.twitter.com/CoQBy1Oc0g

— Stanley Fung (@stanleyfung4) May 30, 2026

A meteorologist said the explosion heard in Boston was a meteor entering the atmosphere.

“Reports of an explosion hears around Boston I believe are going to be a rather significant bolide/meteor entering the atmosphere. Very large “flash” detected by GOES-19 GLM that does not correlate with active thunderstorms,” Meteorologist Nick Stewart said.

“The flash density product really shows this anomalous “flash” which is pretty distinctive of a bolide/meteor reentry. east of Boston. This is the likely source of the loud boom/explosion,” he said.

The flash density product really shows this anomalous “flash” which is pretty distinctive of a bolide/meteor reentry. east of Boston. This is the likely source of the loud boom/explosion. pic.twitter.com/ka5b9KfiQ7

— Nick Stewart (@NStewWX) May 30, 2026