Around 250 people have been reported injured as a spectacular meteor blazed across the sky in the Urals region of Russia near Chelyabinsk east of Moscow. Even during the day, it was clearly visible on several dashboard cameras.
Conflicting reports are coming in about whether or not it was shot down by the military. Despite shaking and explosions in the sky, the National Earthquake Information Center reports no major earthquakes in the area indicating that it disintegrated before hitting the earth. There are peculiarities in the reports and videos as described below.
The damage shown above was reported from the shockwave from the exploding object in the sky.
Peculiarities
The conspiracy theories about the military destroying the object and UFO fears started circulating on social media immediately after the first batch of videos hit. While we don’t necessarily believe any of these theories, there are some peculiarities that do appear.
This video shows two very clear contrails, the boom happening at the 30 second mark, and several very distinct booms after the initial explosion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ozSq3yEm3g
In the video below, the explosion can be heard at the 27 second point. With the video started after the object had already traveled by, the explosion likely occurred seconds before the filming began.
Even if the explosion happened as soon as the video started recording, for it to reach the camera at 27 seconds means it was around six miles away. This could be the reason that officials told Reuters that the object exploded 32,000 feet (a little over 6 miles) in the sky.
Judging by what is seen in the video, the impact of the sound was likely coming from further away than that. Take note of two things: the small explosions that can be heard immediately after the big boom and the shape of the trail itself. Could this have been something other than a meteor?
Keep in mind that meteors burn up and disintegrate or they hit the ground if they are big enough and come in at the proper angle. They do not explode in midair without a reason and with enough force to blow open doors and windows on the ground six miles below.
One last peculiarity to note: watch this video. You’ll notice that the radio has interference until the meteor passes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W90i4nZZAQ
More videos
Here is a compilation of the meteor captured from several cameras. Below, we will continue to add more videos as they hit YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIAm5hq8WWc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_djUWZD1c8#!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0cRHsApzt8
