Weird Noises from the Sky: Do Meteors and Fireballs Really Make Sound?

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Loud bangs, metallic rumbling, whistling in the dark… For centuries, witnesses of bright fireballs have reported strange sounds in the sky. Are meteors really noisy — or is something else going on?

Do meteors and fireballs make strange sounds when they disintegrate in Earth’s atmosphere?
Do meteorites make sounds when they disintegrate in Earth’s atmosphere?

Do meteors make weird noises when they fall?

During a witnessed fall, a bright meteor or fireball puts on an incredible light show — but many observers also report whistling, popping, booming, rumbling, humming, or roaring overhead.

These sounds are often linked to the meteor’s extreme velocity. As it plows through the atmosphere, it can generate shock waves and even sonic booms strong enough to rattle windows and shake the ground. In some rare cases, witnesses even describe “electrophonic sounds” — crackles and hisses heard at the same time as the fireball is seen, possibly created by interactions between the meteor’s ionized trail and local electric fields.

The video below features sounds attributed to the Perseid meteors, captured by U.S. Air Force Space Surveillance Radar in Texas:

Radar “pings” and echoes associated with Perseid meteors over Texas:

What Science Says About Meteor Sounds

Recent research has finally confirmed what witnesses have described for centuries: fireballs don’t just create spectacular optical displays — they produce physical sound, shockwaves and low-frequency radio emissions.

Scientists from the University of New Mexico analyzed more than 11,000 hours of sky data from the Long Wavelength Array and discovered that bright fireballs emit a previously unknown, long-duration low-frequency radio pulse as their plasma trails cool.

These emissions match meteor trajectories in both space and time, providing the first solid evidence that large meteors generate electromagnetic bursts, infrasonic waves and atmospheric vibrations.

Combined with known sonic booms and shockwaves, this means many reported strange sounds in the sky — roaring, hissing, whistling, metal-like buzzing, thunder-like rumbling — are fully consistent with meteor physics.

Meteor fireball lights and sounds:

Witness reports: how meteor falls sound

Below is a compilation of historic ear-witness accounts from confirmed meteorite falls. The letters and numbers in brackets describe the meteorite type recovered after the fireball broke apart:

  • Adzhi-Bogdo (LL3–6): “crackling sounds like gunshots.”
  • Allegan (H5): “a cannon-like explosion followed by a hissing sound similar to an engine blowing off steam.”
  • Cabin Creek (IIIA): “an unusually loud whizzing metal sound.”
  • Crumlin (L5): “a noise like thunder or the rolling of drums.”
  • Felix (CO3): “a loud thunder-like rumbling noise.”
  • Hatford (1628): “a hizzing noise like flying of bullets.”
  • Honolulu (L5): “firing cannons.”
  • Holbrook (L6): “distant thunder, cannon booming… rumbling of a rapidly driven farm wagon on a rough road.”
  • Karakol (LL6): “whistle.”
  • Magombedze (H6): “three loud detonation sounds and an approaching aeroplane-like noise.”
  • Mooresfort (H5): “sounds like thunder.”
Example of reported meteor sounds and booms:
  • Noblesville (H4): “whirring sound, low-pitched whistle.”
  • Rowton (IIIA): “a hissing and then a rumbling noise.”
  • St. Robert (H5): “electrophonic sounds.”
  • Campos Sales (L4): “a loud buzzing noise, a sonic boom, and a sound of bullets.”
  • Juancheng (H5): “roaring sound during 2 to 3 minutes.”
  • Ashdon (L6): “a loud sissing noise as if an aeroplane was overhead.”
  • Baldwyn (L6): “humming noise.”
  • Binningup (H5): “whistling noise.”
  • Middlesbrough (L6): “whizzing or rushing noise.”
  • Peckelsheim (DIO): “a whining noise.”
  • Quesa (IRANOM): “approaching storm noise.”
  • Rampurhat (LL): “a roaring noise.”
  • Ruhobobo (L6): “jet aeroplane noise.”
Chelyabinsk meteor explosion over Russia:
  • Sharps (H3): “a whirring noise.”
  • Trebbin (LL6): “loud hissing noise.”
  • Warrenton (CO3): “a whistling noise.”
  • Wold Cottage (L6): “various noises like pistols or distant guns at sea, and a hissing noise passing through the air.”

Link to the “Strange Sounds in the Sky” phenomenon

Reading all these descriptions — thunder, cannon fire, airplane hum, roaring, whistling, buzzing — it’s easy to see why many people connect meteor activity with modern reports of Strange Sounds in the Sky and skyquakes.

Some mysterious booms and skyquakes are eventually traced back to fireballs or bolides exploding high in the atmosphere. Others remain unexplained — but meteors are clearly one piece of the cosmic noise puzzle.

For even stranger audio, listen to sounds recorded from space and cosmic radio sources. The universe is anything but silent.

FAQ: Meteor Noises and Sky Sounds

Do meteors really make sound?

Yes, large meteors can produce audible sound. As they travel at hypersonic speeds, they generate powerful shock waves that can create sonic booms, rumbles, and explosions heard at the ground. Some witnesses also report crackling or hissing noises that may be electromagnetic in nature.

Why do some people hear a meteor before they expect to?

In rare cases, observers report hearing a meteor at almost the same time they see it, which shouldn’t happen with normal sound travel. These are known as electrophonic sounds, possibly caused when the meteor’s ionized trail interacts with local electric fields, inducing nearby objects (glasses, hair, foliage) to vibrate and create audible noise.

Can meteor booms damage buildings?

Very energetic fireballs — like the Chelyabinsk event — can generate shock waves strong enough to shatter windows and cause minor structural damage. Most meteor booms, however, are heard as thunder-like rumbles or distant explosions without serious impact.

Are strange sky sounds always caused by meteors?

No. While meteors and fireballs can explain some loud booms and rumbles, other sky sounds may be linked to atmospheric ducting, industrial noise, aircraft, earthquakes, or unknown sources. Meteors are just one chapter in the larger story of mysterious sky sounds.

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