NASA and Beltrami County officials: Bright light and boom "Unlikely" to be meteor

(Beltrami County, MN) -- It doesn't look like a meteor caused a bright flash of light and loud boom in northern Minnesota earlier this week.  

After consulting experts at NASA, officials in Beltrami County say its unlikely a meteor caused the burst of light and explosion sound on Monday night. Christopher Muller, emergency management director with the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office, says the incident wasn't picked up on weather radar.  He also said people reported seeing the flash over an area of around 50 miles and reported hearing the blast from an even farther distance away.

“This has certainly been an interesting puzzle to try and solve, and we still don’t know exactly what it was. “ said Muller. “We appreciate the assistance we’ve received from federal agencies and science community in ruling out what it wasn’t and will continue to provide any subsequent information that is learned.” He continued, “The fact this was seen and heard across such a large area is what is a mystery. What was it?”

At this time, there have not been any reports of ground damage. The Sheriff's Office says there will be no further updates unless any significant developments in the investigation are made, or if the cause of the light and boom is determined.