Did a meteorite fall off Mayotte?
The Mahorais evoke the hypothesis of a meteorite falling from the sky after hearing a strong explosion coming from the sky on Monday evening at around 9:30 pm.
By Maria Elena Gottarelli
Published on February 19, 2019 at 10:50 am
Monday evening: It is night in Mayotte (Indian Ocean) when, around 9:30 pm not far from Labattoir (north of Petite-Terre),
the inhabitants hear a loud noise -
like a blast - coming from the sky. In the distance, somewhere offshore, some people think they see a "fireball".
23h05. I would like to share two photos published on Fb of a colleague from @mayottela1st #Mayotte pic.twitter.com/SBqyyyyyvy3q
- Abby Said Adinani (@Bee_Mondroha) February 18, 2019
"There's a fucking meteorite that fell on Mayotte, I think."
An event that remains mysterious at the moment, as the cause of the "explosion" has not yet been identified by experts and authorities.
On the other hand, one theory is favoured by the Mahorais, who have expressed themselves en masse on social networks: according to many, it is a meteorite.
There's a fucking meteorite that fell on Mayotte, I think.
- Tumpa khayyamovic (@khayyamovic) February 18, 2019
All #Mayotte has just heard and felt a huge explosion, without explanation, some would have seen a meteor crashing... eager to know! It's starting to get really strange these phenomena. pic.twitter.com/5cXJDGhOez
- Grégoire (@gregnakachdjian) February 18, 2019
#Mayotte a #noise #terrifying sound was heard, a tremor of a #wave a BOOM???????????#tsingoni
- m.toihv (@toi_Ha) February 18, 2019
Hypothesis not yet confirmed
Did a meteorite really crash at sea? This is the question that even the prefecture of Mayotte is currently asking itself. On Monday evening, the prefect confessed in a tweet that:
"At this stage, no explanation could be provided."
On Tuesday morning, the prefecture issued a press release stating that it is trying to "confirm this hypothesis (that of a meteorite) through other scientific structures such as astronomical observatories in the area and to define the impact point more precisely.
pic.twitter.com/1IDog2txmB
- Prefect of Mayotte (@Prefet976) February 19, 2019
Nevertheless, she claims that the "rescue services did not observe any particular events."
The department of Mayotte has been hit by a series of earthquakes in recent months. Between May 10, 2018 and January 30, 2019, more than 1,500 tremors of magnitude greater than 3.5 were recorded in the archipelago.
M-E.G.
Translated with
www.DeepL.com/Translator
Подпишись to our channel Vusi Play "It is difficult for me to talk about halos, because in Salekhard (the administrative center of Yamalo-Nenets autonomous district), for example, today it is cloudy. This optical phenomenon is connected with particles, crystals, small snow and moisture, which are in the air. Widespread in the Autonomous Okrug? Not to say what's rare," said a RIA Novosti spokesman. According to him, such phenomena are possible due to a whole set of factors, mainly they depend on the condensation of small particles in the air. Cold temperatures do not always play a role: for example, on February 13, the temperature in the region will not drop below 13 degrees. "It's warm enough," said Koshkin.
