NASA Meteor Watch said on Facebook that more than 100 people saw the meteor around 5:38 p.m. local time Sunday.
"There was no sound whatsoever," Al Gregoritsch of South Burlington told CNN affiliate WPTZ. "I was very excited to see it. It's a phenomenon I will never forget."
The meteor was seen traveling northeast across 33 miles -- from Mount Mansfield State Forest to Beach Hill in Orleans County south of Newport., the agency said.
NASA Meteor Watch said the object was likely a fragment of an asteroid, while the tremors witnesses reported were caused by a pressure difference between the front and back of the object.
"The space rock fragmented violently, producing a pressure wave that rattled buildings and generated the sound heard by those near the trajectory," the agency said. "Such a pressure wave can also couple into the ground, causing minor 'tremors' that can be picked up by seismic instruments in the area."
Based on infrasound measurements, which are low-frequency sounds that can travel great distances, the agency was able to measure the fireball as weighing about 10 pounds with a diameter of around six inches.
The agency called it, "A nice little firework, courtesy of Mother Nature."
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