The shock wave and "eerie roar" in Gran Canaria were caused by a meteorite

First, it tore the sky over La Palma, La Gomera and Tenerife at great speed, like lightning, emitting colors with shades of green and red, and then caused such a roar over Gran Canaria that it could be heard in many areas of the island, and finally fell into the sea, causing amazement of the inhabitants of the island, who at first they didn't know what it was.

Scientists have confirmed that it was a meteorite, which, although not the first time it falls on the archipelago, has no precedent for what happened yesterday, as it was accompanied by tremors. Fortunately, the emergency Service announced that there was no evidence that he had caused injuries or property damage.

The incident occurred yesterday (Wednesday) just after 15:00, although the exact time of the impact, recorded by measuring systems installed by the company "Involkan" and the National Geographic Institute (IGN), recorded various readings between 15:16 and 16:35.

The first alarm received by the emergency service came from the province of Tenerife in connection with reports of a very fast green-red object in the sky.

But what really caused all the alarms happened right after that, when a strong rumble was heard over Gran Canaria, and residents of municipalities all over the island, including Agaete, San Bartolome de Tirajana, Santa Brigida and Las Palmas, with some alarm demanded information about the noise and tremors.

"Even the window panes and blinds were shaking," say those who called 112 to report it. Their evidence that the sound had spread too far to be, for example, an airplane breaking the sound barrier, which was one of the initial hypotheses.

Seismic activity was also ruled out, leaving no room for doubt, by scientists in less than an hour. Although it was urgently confirmed that no one was in danger and there were no emergencies related to this phenomenon, everything points to an object that arrived from space.

In the afternoon, the Government of the Canary Islands made an official statement that, indeed, the aforementioned "sonic boom was caused by a fireball that crossed the sky over the Canary Islands and touched the atmosphere of this island, generating a powerful acoustic wave."

By that time, the director of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, Rafael Rebolo, had already confirmed the information provided by the Dean of the Press of the Canary Islands: it was a meteorite, the size of which is estimated to be about "a meter in length" and whose weight exceeds "several tons".