Possible meteorite crash in Texas sparks probe after reports of loud explosion

“It created panic throughout the city,” Mr Cesar Torres, chief of the local police unit said. He added that the law enforcement agencies in other nearby areas also received similar calls, the USA Today reported.

US space agency NASA said that according to experts, the explosion was due to a meteorite crash. They also detailed upon the dimensions of the meteorite and said it was about 1,000 pounds (453.5 kilograms) and two feet in diameter.

A video of the explosion is also doing rounds on social media in which huge bang can be heard.

“NASA is examining reports of a meteorite about 6 p.m. EST, Feb. 15, near McAllen, Texas. So far, @NASA is not aware of reports of injury or property damage,” the space agency said in a tweet.

“NASA experts believe the object was a meteoroid about two feet in diameter weighing about 1,000 pounds. The angle and speed of entry, along with signatures in weather radar imagery, are consistent with other naturally occurring meteorite falls,” the tweet added.

The officials are probing the exact spot where the meteorite landed which is expected to be in McAllen, a town in Texas near the Mexican border.

“There’s been reports of a possible meteorite this evening west of McAllen. One of the satellite tools we use is the Geostationary Lightning Mapper & it measures lightning as observed from space. GLM detected a signal at 523 PM with no storms around. No official confirmation yet,” National Weather Service (NWS) Brownsville said in a tweet.

A meteorite crash occurs when a meteoroid, which is a small rock or particle from space, collides with the Earth’s atmosphere and survives its passage through it to impact the Earth’s surface.