© TsitsikamaboertjieA screenshot of the video doing the rounds on many groups was sent to Weather Guru by Tsitsikamaboertjie from Assagaaibosch.
Did you feel it? Did you hear it?
Unconfirmed reports have been doing the rounds of a possible meteorite or satellite that hit close to the Patensie area, causing people to think there might have been an earthquake.
According to Weather Guru, a Facebook page run by Garth Sampson, a former employee of the South African Weather Service, although it's unclear exactly what happened, it was definitely not an earthquake.
Residents in the Mossel Bay area said they had heard two loud bang noises this morning, as did another resident in Great Brak.
Weather Guru said: "My rainfall group in the Langkloof started reporting what sounded like an earthquake. Later reports came through of what seems to look like a meteor or satellite. It apparently hit in the Patensie area."
He said a video had been doing rounds on many groups and was sent to Weather Guru by Tsitsikamaboertjie from Assagaaibosch.
Comment: A SOTT reader comments:
"I heard it this morning it was around 9am local time, South Africa (it's about 200km away as the crow flies) - clear double boom. Incredible."
Update:1) The
Center for Near Earth Object Studies have listed this event with these data:
© CNEOS
2) A screenshot of the map shows when zoomed in:
3) The most energetic fireball this year was equivalent to 5.1 kt of TNT. In comparison this 0.092 kt is small potato, only slightly above the minimum for entering the list, 0.073 kt.
4) Some comments on X.com where the video has been shared, have suggested that the fireball is not natural, but the re-entering of human made object. However the speed of the observed object on entry, 20.1 km excludes this option. The Wiki for
Atmospheric entry:
Reentry has been achieved with speeds ranging from 7.8 km/s for low Earth orbit to around 12.5 km/s for the Stardust probe.[1]
5) For other fireballs this year that were filmed and which entered the CNEOS list, see:
"Looking up into the partly cloudy sky, however, Eli-zè was surprised to see a large dark rock fall from the sky, near a Wild Fig tree in the garden, and hit the ground.The rock looked black and shiny on the outside. However, it had broken up into multiple pieces and looked like concrete on the inside. When she picked up the largest piece, she said it felt “felt warm like a cup when you’ve just finished drinking the tea or coffee from it on the outside, but the inside felt cold.” By the time she carried it to the porch, the warmth was gone."