Friday 23 July 2021

Bolide over Penang?

Two days ago, a friend and former colleague at JobStreet.com posted a message to our whatsapp chatgroup saying that at about 5.15am, he heard a loud boom from his condominium on the island which rattled his windows. But there wasn't any lightning at all. 

A few hours later, I received a short note from another whatsapp chatgroup which said that the morning's loud bang heard over Penang could have been caused by a bolide (large meteor) that entered and exploded in the atmosphere. Others speculated that it could be rubbish jettisoned from the passing International Space Station. The Astronomical Society of Penang was attempting to gather more information from various sources about the loud explosion. 

I don't have any extra information about this interesting matter - and there's nothing reported in the mainstream media so far - but my friend did mention to us later than his surveilance camera in his condominium unit had captured both the flash of light at 4.59:48am as the bolide exploded and subsequently at 5.02:13am, the sonic boom that shook him awake. That there was a 145-second interval between the flash of light and the sonic boom, he estimated the incident to have occurred about 50.2 kilometers from his home in Tanjong Bungah.

(This video clip was provided by Ted Targosz)

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