Meteoric explosion and sonic boom effect reported in United Kingdom

There are many reports of a meteorite that exploded over South Wales in Southwest Britain on August 27, 2012. People across UK reported that they saw bright light in sky around 11:10 PM local time. Meteorite exploded near town Cwmbran. Police said they have received many calls reporting the incident, people saying they saw “bright light” and “orange glow” from the alleged explosion. Also, it created sonic boom effect, rattled windows and set off car alarms.

Nathan Jones from St. Athan wrote on Meteorite news, “I saw an object, I can’t specify what, with a heat trail behind. It was orange and white and very bright, and seemed very close, not that I could see. Never seen something so amazing in my life. It looked like it was skimming through the atmosphere due to the curved path it was taking.” Another witness, T Doran of New Brighton, Wirral, Merseyside, wrote: “We were on the beach walking towards the sea wall, facing the South East and it traveled from right to left across the sky. It just appeared in the sky, then the view was obscured by the sea wall. It was silent, a large orange and white globe with a long straight green tail.”

Experts say explosion of meteorite may happen if substantial amount of ice and/or frozen carbon dioxide is trapped in meteor, which may heat up and start to boil, building up enough pressure to the point of explosion. Meteors are known to offer stunning sight for people lucky enough to catch the scene on time and are useful for scientific studies.