WEST MICHIGAN. — As families got ready for bed late Thursday night, streaks of light lit up the sky above Kent and Ottawa counties. The mysterious sight was accompanied by a loud boom that lasted over a minute and shook the ground.
Mysterious skylights and “boom” rocks West Michigan
Hundreds of people throughout West Michigan took to social media afterward to express their shock and confusion at what they had just experienced.
Katie Schumaker, of Kentwood, described her experience, saying she was “inside watching TV and heard a really loud, deep rumbling outside that went on for a long time.”
“It sounded like rolling thunder, but louder and more frequent.”
Several people described a similar sound, which occurred sometime around 10:30 p.m. on Thursday.
“It almost sounded like you were next to the train tracks when they run over it, bump or almost like an airplane was going over,” Angelica Ward, who also lives in Kentwood, told FOX 17.
“It was just crazy. I’m surprised the kids didn’t wake up. It was that loud at my house.”
However, it wasn’t just the sound that caught their attention, it was something strange streaking across the sky.
“I turn around, or look to my right, and the sky lights up orange,” Kelly Stafford, who lives in Jamestown Township, said Friday.
“And then, it was like an orange.”
Ron Earl in Wyoming captured video of something streaking across the sky around the same time as the booming sound.
Several people online viewed Earl’s video of the object, and a video captured by Angelica Ward where you could hear the grinding sound. They described experiencing very similar sights and sounds.
Some on social media speculated that this could be related to the annual Perseid meteor show that will be visible this weekend.
FOX 17 spoke with Robert Lunsford with the American Meteor Society Friday to get his take on what might have happened.
“The Perseids produce no sound because they evaporate completely before descending into the lower atmosphere, where the air molecules are dense enough to carry sound waves,” Lunsford explained.
“So I don’t know what they’re hearing, but it’s not the Perseid meteors.”
Some meteors create sounds that you can hear when they break through the atmosphere.
“You can hear meteors if they’re made of rock and come from asteroids. They tend to be slower than the Perseids, get further down in the atmosphere, and they can actually produce a sonic boom,” Lunsford said.
FOX 17 showed the videos taken Thursday night of the meteor expert.
He said, based on his long experience in the world of analyzing astrological events, he does not believe the videos really show a meteor, nor does he believe the sound we hear in the video is a sonic boom.
It’s possible West Michigan experienced a meteor entering the atmosphere, but Lunsford doesn’t think that’s what’s captured in the videos.
Regardless, there will be incredible conditions this weekend for viewing the Perseid meteor shower.
While they should be visible for much of the weekend, the ideal time will likely be late Saturday into Sunday morning.
“The best time to see these meteors is midnight to dawn, and absolutely The best time is the small hour around 4 a.m., when it’s high in the sky and you can see meteors shooting in all directions, Lunsford says.
He suggests you travel to a place away from the city lights.
The more stars you can see in the sky, the more meteors you will be able to see.
“The colors on these are often vibrant as well… most of the Perseids are orange to yellow. Sometimes you’ll get some really exotic ones, like purple or blue,” Lunsford explained.
“So, something to look forward to.”
For more information on viewing the Perseid meteor shower, you can visit the American Meteor Society website HERE.
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