Sonic boom startled north end residents Wednesday evening

Photo courtesy @Scout_Storm on Twitter

A sonic boom at 7pm Wednesday evening, May 6, 2020 startled residents from Lake Forest Park to the Kitsap Peninsula.

It was apparently caused by space dust entering the atmosphere and exploding.

SpaceWeather.com said,

The eta Aquarid meteor shower, caused by dust from Halley's Comet, is still active on May 6th, but it appears to be subsiding. Data from the International Meteor Organization suggest that the shower peaked on May 4th with maximum rates near 45 per hour. Glare from the waxing full Moon will make the display difficult to see for the next few nights. Practically speaking, for casual sky watchers the show is over.

So if it hadn't been for the Flower Moon, the meteor shower might have been visible - at least outside of brightly lit urban areas.

A Brier resident @Scout_Storm posted a photo of the explosion on Twitter. He said that the sonic boom came three minutes after the visible explosion. A person who commented on the photo said that would mean the explosion was 50 miles away.