'Panic throughout the city': Possible meteorite rocks Texas region as officials investigate

Authorities are investigating after a suspected meteorite hit south Texas this week and people in the area reported an explosion that shook their homes.

Cesar Torres, chief of police in Mission, Texas, told reporters Thursday that on Wednesday evening, officials were inundated with calls describing a large explosion and homes shaking about 5:30 p.m. CST. Mission is located in south Texas near the border with Mexico.

“It created panic throughout the city,” Torres said, explaining that other area law enforcement agencies received similar calls.  

Torres told reporters there had been no reports of injuries or property damage as of Thursday morning. They have also not determined the site of any potential collision.  

NASA in a statement to USA TODAY said its experts believe "the object was a meteoroid about two feet in diameter weighing about 1,000 pounds." 

"The angle and speed of entry, along with signatures in weather radar imagery, are consistent with other naturally occurring meteorite falls," NASA said "Radar and other data indicate that meteorites did reach the ground from this event."

Rep Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas, told reporters Thursday that “we are grateful that everyone is safe” and said her office has requested additional information from other federal officials, including NASA. 

Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra confirmed on Twitter Wednesday that federal officials informed his office that Houston Air Traffic Control “received reports from two aircrafts that they saw a meteorite west of McAllen.” Officials did not immediately confirm the point of impact in the area. McAllen, Texas, is about 6 miles west of Mission. 

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The National Weather Service in Brownsville, Texas, also shared on Twitter that a tool the agency uses to measure lightning detected a signal Wednesday evening “with no storms around” and said it was a “very good possibility” that something entered the atmosphere.

NASA explained that meteorites "cool rapidly and generally are not a risk to the public." They said in the Thursday statement that small asteroids enter the atmosphere above the United States "once or twice a year on average" and regularly send meteorites to the ground.