Meteorite falls on house in Indonesia

Scientists and members of the elite antiterrorism military unit "Densus 88" rubbed shoulders on Friday as a crowd of government officials and experts descended on an East Jakarta house after it was apparently struck by an object from outer space, possibly a meteorite.

One house sustained moderate damage and two adjoining properties minor damage after the impact on Jalan Delima II in Duren Sawit on Thursday. There were no reported casualties. One of the middle-class properties suffered extensive damage, including a hole in is roof, the first floor and ground floor.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar ruled out the possibility that yet another gas canister had exploded but said police remained baffled by the incident. He said they were exploring the possibility a meteorite or piece of space junk had landed on the house.

A forensic team was examining the area, as were members of Densus 88 who were investigating the possibility a bomb had exploded. Evan Irawan Akbar, a researcher from the Boscha Observatory in Lembang, Bandung, told the Jakarta Globe that if the event was indeed the impact of a meteorite, then it was an extremely rare event.

“Usually the objects that fall to earth are destroyed when they burn-up in the atmosphere or a very small if they survive.”

He any meteorite was unlikely to be part of the Lyrid meteor shower, which peaked on April 26, but could be from the Eta Aquarids meteor shower expected to peak on May 7 and 8. The National Aeronautics and Space Agency (Lapan) was also monitoring the situation.

“We will learn more by checking the body of the object, and we will also coordinate with the police’s forensics laboratory,” a spokeswoman said.


/Jakarta Globe/