Watch: Meteorite falls in South Africa after 50 years, triggers widespread sonic boom

Did an asteroid or a meteorite fall in South Africa? Residents in Eastern Cape, South Africa, reported seeing a streak of bright light in the sky over St Francis Bay on Sunday (August 25) morning. Internet and media reports speculated that a piece of space debris, possibly from a satellite, had entered the Earth’s atmosphere. Scientists have now confirmed that what people saw was a meteorite. 

Scientists from Wits University and NMMU had been monitoring the event and reports of something being spotted in the sky over St Francis Bay. The meteorite entered the atmosphere at a relatively low trajectory and broke apart while burning up. Some parts of it also fell into the ocean, according to the captain of a whale-watching boat.

Professor Roger Gibson from the Wits School of Geosciences says that “the incident is consistent with a rocky asteroid about the size of a car entering Earth’s atmosphere at very high speed.”

“Friction with the atmosphere created a spectacular fireball and caused it to break up in flight,” he added. 

The meteorite fall caused a sonic boom that was heard as far away as Plettenberg Bay, over 200 km from Gqberha, the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province. Ground tremors from the sonic boom were also reported. 

Pieces of the cosmic body fell over a vast area as Gibson says someone found fragments of a meteorite over 100 km away from Cape St Francis. “This may indicate an exceptional fall area,” he added. 

Notably, the last time a meteorite fell in South Africa was in Lichtenburg in 1973. The county has recorded only 51 meteorites till now, and only 22 meteorite falls. 

Gibson and others at the Wits University keep a close watch on asteroids as “they pose a potential threat.”

“Meteorites are rare and hold deep scientific value as they give us a glimpse of the make-up and birth of our solar system,” Gibson said. 

Gibson and his team are trying to learn more about the meteorite fall witnessed on Sunday. They are asking anyone who saw, heard or found something related to the meteorite fall to come forward and contact them.