Why so many meteors lately in Eastern U.S.?

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Recent meteor streaks across the Eastern U.S. are drawing a lot of interest and even more of questions.

A fireball streaking across the sky last Wednesday morning startled residents across Western New York. Astronomers say it was a meteor burning up as it entered Earth's atmosphere.

Over the weekend, a meteor rocked Boston and much of New England. There was another in Texas, and a mysterious loud boom was reported over parts of South Carolina.

Why so many of these lately? And is there a connection?

"There's really no connection to any of these recent meteors," said Tim Collins of the Buffalo Astronomical Association.

"They are all separate events that just happen to be randomly scattered over the Eastern U.S right now. I don't know if we'll ever see this again."

Meteors happen frequently, but Collins said they're usually very small and burn up higher in the atmosphere.

"The lower it gets and the bigger it is, the louder the sound it's going to make," he added. "The loud sonic boom ones happen about a dozen times a year and we just happen to have had three in a row."

Both NASA and Space Force are trying to track these things. Detection methods on the ground have improved greatly with doorbell cameras.

Do these meteors leave debris? Probably not, according to Collins.

"The meteor over Western New York eventually went out over the ocean, so it would be deep under water. If there was anything that survived it would just be dust. Meteoric dust falls all the time on rooftops and such. Anything that comes down is technically called a meteorite because it survived the trip to earth. But it's unlikely you'll find a pebble, or rock, or anything like that," he said.