Panic and fear spread among residents and holiday makers in Barcelona when a burning meteorite was mistaken for a UFO.
According to a report in Standard Media, hundreds of residents called up emergency services, while social media sites were abuzz with pictures and panicky messages after a meteorite lit up the Spanish skies with a trail of fire. While many mistook the meteorite for an alien intervention, some others thought it was a burning plane.
The moments replicated the fall of a meteorite in Russia last year. In that incident, the burning meteorite had created moments of fear and confusion as it exploded with a loud bang, which created vibrations that left a few buildings damaged. The meteor crashed on Russia's Ural Mountains, injuring at least 950 people, leaving them with cuts and bruises.
The places which reported the sighting are: Barcelona, Aragan, Castilla-La Manch, Castilla y Lean, Valencia, AndalucAa and Extremadura. The meteorite was also recorded by the Spanish Meteorological Agency (Aemet).
"We think the meteorite may have flown over more areas of the country including Aragon, however, because it was pretty cloudy there we believe it may have been widely missed, and was only spotted when it emerged over a clear area that included Barcelona," the report quoted Spanish astrophysicist Jose Maria Trigo as saying.
"But nevertheless, it has been made easier thanks to all the social media video footage and pictures", Trigo added.
While it is believed that the meteorite did not completely burn down and has certainly touched the surface of the earth, the crash location is yet to be discovered. According to Trigo, the very size of the meteorite determined that it could not completely burn down, before touching base on earth.
Check out the video below:
Video credit: Youtube/RT
