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Locals heard loud explosions and feared another plane had crashed on the Caribbean island.
Cubans living on the western side of the island heard loud explosions and felt their houses shakes on Friday, prompting many to think an airplane had fallen from the sky, but others say it might have been a meteorite.
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Residents of Pinar del Rio province reported that small rock fragments fell from the sky as they heard the loud noise. Others rushed to social media, starting the rumor that another plane had crashed, after the 2018 incident that shocked the island.
But the Armed Forces Ministry confirmed to Granma, the Communist Party of Cuba’s journal, that it wasn’t an airplane. Authorities from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA) are investigating the event, but it can’t yet be confirmed it was a meteorite.
“Several people reported having seen fire and smoke in the sky and feeling strong vibrations in their house. It’s thought they were fragments of a meteorite, but this hasn’t been confirmed,” says the newspaper.
Some locals and tourists saw a ball of fire crossing the sky and soon after social media was flooded with images of the alien rocks that fell on the Viñales rural area, near the famous Mural de la Prehistoria. No human or material damage has been reported so far by the authorities.
Reporteros de @TelePinar en el #MuraldelaPrehistoria #Viñales #PinarDelRio constatan caída de piedras negras de alrededor de 7 cm luego de un gran estruendo. @fatimaTelePinar investiga #Cuba pic.twitter.com/NLLvVcr18U
— Rolando Segura (@rolandoteleSUR) 1 de febrero de 2019
Journalists of Tele Pinar published some pictures of the rocks, being up to 7 centimeters long.
Osmany Mosegui, vice president of Viñales’s council, said a fragment between 20 and 30 centimeters was found on the road.
But authorities say it can be confirmed if the rocks actually belong to a meteorite until there’s scientific evidence.
TeleSUR’s correspondent in Cuba, Rolando Segura, said especialists from the Geophysics and Astronomy Institute of Cuba, led by Martha Rodriguez Uratsuka, visited the area to confirm if the rocks are part of a meteorite.
The National Weather Service (NWS) at Key West, Florida, also registered what the called a meteorite falling in Cuba.
At least five meteorites have been confirmed falling in Cuba during the last 80 years, the last in 2001, all verified by chemical analysis and other techniques.
Just on Sunday a devastating tornado hit Havana by surprise, leaving four dead and hundreds injured.
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