Another day, another meteor sonic boom – this time over UK

Police departments of Devon and Cornwall, UK, received hundreds of calls from people saying they had experienced an earth tremor and heard loud bangs around 16:15 BST on Thursday, October 18, 2012. Police staff in Devon’s Newton Abbot station also said floors shook.

British Geological Survey told BBC it may have been caused by a sonic boom from a meteorite as it caused pressure changes in the atmosphere while falling.

It appears that nothing has struck the earth that has caused any damage or injury, and there is no evidence of tremor, BGS said, and added that they are waiting to hear what scientists have to say about it.

Richard Luckett, from the BGS, said a meteor sonic boom is “what we would assume it was.” “When we see things like this on our instruments, we tend to assume that they’re sonic booms.”

Every year, at the end of October, our planet passes through a stream of debris from Comet Halley. Popular name for this event is Orionid meteor shower or Orionids.

This year, the Orionids should peak on the morning of October 21. If weather permits, people around the globe will be able to see approx. 25 – 30 meteors per hour on peak day.

More on this year’s Orionid meteor shower here.