Meteor sighting in the Marianas over the weekend

The National Weather Service confirms that what seemed to be a severe lighting flash last Saturday morning was actually a meteor passing through the Marianas’ skies.

Last Saturday, CNMI Homeland Security and Emergency Management held a press conference to address the “lighting sighting that shook windows” reports that both they and Department of Public Safety received at around 12am last Saturday.

According to HSEM, at around 12:10am on Saturday morning, DPS received a call from a Kagman resident regarding a bright, flashing light from the sky followed by a loud “bang.”

The State Warning Point also received a separate call were community members reported that the “bang” shook some windows and doors

“So we connected with the NWS from Guam to get more information about it,” said HSEM spokesperson Bernard Villagomez.

According to NWS’ Patrick Doll, he said that after reviewing the footage caught by members of the Marianas community, NWS can confirm that the sighting was not lighting but rather a meteor sighting.

“Based on the videos we received, we believe it to be a meteorite. I can confirm it was a definite meteorite,” he said.

Dolls said he is unsure when the last meteor sighting in the Marianas happened.