KOTA KINABALU – A thunderous sound of explosion that was claimed to be heard by the public at Sabah’s west coast yesterday morning is likely to have been caused by a falling meteor in neighbouring Brunei.
Citing eyewitness testimonies, the Astronomical Society of Brunei Darussalam (PABD) reported on its website that numerous people heard the phenomenon of a roaring sound from a disintegrated meteor.
It quoted a 22-year-old named Haziq who reported to PABD of first seeing an unexpected bright blueish green light falling from the sky over Mulaut district.
“The brightness increased really quick then reduced to an orange reddish colour for a fraction of a second,” Haziq was quoted as saying.
It also quoted Hakem from Tutong district as saying that he was with his daughter at Penanjong beach when she saw “a light orange ball in the sky with a tail of light” for a very brief while before it disappeared.
PABD also reported an email from Lau Shien Chung who mentioned that her friend saw a blazing fire first and then heard the explosion after that at Temburong National Park.
Meanwhile, Amirzudi Hashim, director of the Malaysian Meteorological Department Sabah told The Vibes that its 24-hour Weather and Earthquake Operations Centre did not detect any occurrence of an earthquake or seismic activity.
He added that the National Weather and Geophysics Operations Center, which operates 24 hours, has also not recorded any earthquakes in Sabah and Sarawak at around 11am.
Yesterday at around 11am, residents in Sabah’s west coast districts and in Brunei claimed to have heard a “strange explosion”.
Sabah authorities including the police have said they did not detect any explosion occurring in the state.
The National Seismic Council (NSC) of Brunei is said to have detected a “moderate seismic activity” at 11.03am that was clearly not caused by an earthquake or natural tremor within Brunei and surrounding countries.
It said that the seismic activity was felt at a number of locations in Brunei. – The Vibes, February 1, 2021
