Space agency says probable meteor passed over Statue of Liberty before disintegrating 29 miles above city

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? New Yorkers were puzzled by the sound of a loud boom and shaking sensations on Tuesday morning. The probable answer: an out-of-this-world visitor in the shape of a fiery meteor that exploded high over midtown Manhattan.

Nasa Meteor Watch estimates that the meteor – essentially a chunk of space debris – passed over the city in broad daylight and “was first sighted at an altitude of 49 miles above Upper Bay (east of Greenville Yard)”. But the group underscored this estimation was “crude and uncertain” since it was based on witness accounts and no camera or satellite data was currently available.

Fireballs are “exceptionally bright meteors that are spectacular enough to be seen over a very wide area”, Nasa says. Daylight fireballs are very rare.

Nasa said the meteor, traveling at 34,000mph, “descended at a steep angle of just 18 degrees from vertical, passing over the Statue of Liberty before disintegrating 29 miles above midtown Manhattan”.