Officials in the Eastern Mediterranean country of Cyprus are puzzled by reports from residents regarding a fiery meteor streaking across the sky and causing a thunderous noise on Sept. 9.
According to the police, several eyewitnesses claimed of seeing a strange glowing object flying over the Troodos Mountain range the evening of Sept. 8.
People living in the area said they saw what appeared to be green-white lights in the sky at around 1 a.m. This was then followed by a loud explosion from afar and a shaking of the ground.
Iordanis Demetriades, a spokesman for the Cyprus Geological Department, said they haven't found any evidence that an object from space impacted Earth on Friday.
If the reports of a meteor flying over the Troodos Mountain range were true, Demetriades said it is likely that the space rock may have already exploded in the sky.
Officials from the Cyprus police are now looking for the remains of the supposed meteor. However, experts say that the meteorite would probably be only a small object.
Close Encounters With Meteors
While it is still unclear whether a meteor did hit the planet on Friday, such incidents aren't as uncommon as many people would think.
NASA data shows that as many as 13,500 space rocks, including comets and asteroids of all shapes and sizes, have been detected transiting within 30 million miles of Earth's orbit. About 30 of these near-Earth objects manage to reach the planet every year only to burn up in the atmosphere.
Many of the meteorites that hit Earth are often left undetected mainly because they tend to land on bodies of water instead of impacting on the ground directly. The planet is also known to be sparsely populated, which makes it less likely for a meteorite to hit areas where people live.
An example of a largely unnoticed meteorite impact was the one that occurred over the Atlantic earlier this year.
NASA reported that a space rock about 5 to 7 meters (16 to 23 feet) wide landed off the coast of Brazil in February. Despite being considered a significant event, experts believe such sea-borne landings won't produce the same damage as land-based impacts.
"Events this size aren't too big a concern," astronomy blogger Phil Plait said. "Had it happened over a populated area, it would've rattled some windows and probably terrified a lot of people, but I don't think it would've done any real damage."
