Heavenly boom: Cyprus abuzz over ‘exploding meteor’

NICOSIA, Cyprus – Cypriot officials are baffled by reports that a meteor streaking across the nighttime sky may have exploded overhead with a thunderous bang that some said made the ground shake.

Police said eyewitnesses reported seeing a blue glow emanating from the object that raced over the east Mediterranean island’s Troodos mountain range shortly before midnight Thursday.

Cyprus Geological Department official Iordanis Demetriades told The Associated Press Friday that there’s no indication the object struck the ground and that it probably “exploded in the sky.”

A police official who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity in line with police rules said numerous reports spoke of “a loud explosion” followed by “the ground shaking.”

Authorities are looking for possible remnants of the object.