Fireball and sonic boom over Vancouver was likely meteor

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This article was published 04/03/2026 (194 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER – British Columbians took to social media Tuesday evening to share reports of a bright fireball in the night sky over Vancouver, and a house-rattling sonic boom.

Alison Bird, a seismologist from Natural Resources Canada’s earthquake early warning operation, says a few local seismometers in B.C. clearly picked up the event at 9:10 p.m. local time. 

She says the agency can confirm the shock recorded was “not an earthquake” but give a specific location, as its system is designed to detect movements within the Earth and not the atmosphere. 

Bird says all the seismometers that picked up the event were located in the Lower Mainland.

People have also been sharing webcam footage on social media showing the sky brightening, from one horizon to the other, as the suspected meteor soars above the clouds.

All indications suggest the region was witness to a significant meteor, scientifically known as a bolide.

Bolides are typically chunks of rock or ice, from asteroids or comets, that burn brightly in Earth’s atmosphere before exploding.

Witness reports say the flash was seen over a long range, while the sonic boom could be heard from the Fraser Valley to Washington State.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2026.