A COLOSSAL bang heard by residents across northern Powys last week has been attributed to a meteorite that passed over the area.

Residents from Llanfyllin, Newtown and Guilsfield took to social media last Thursday to say they had heard a noise in the early hours of the day, which they likened to a sonic boom or a thunderclap.

UK Fireball Alliance, a group led by staff at the Natural History Museum that aims to recover freshly fallen meteorites in the UK, today (Tuesday, April 19) reported that a meteorite had passed over the Shropshire area on April 14 at 12:45pm before breaking up.

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People are now being asked to report any shards of the meteorite that may have fallen in the area – although most of these are likely to be well outside of Powys, to the south of Shrewsbury.

Jim Rowe of UK Fireball Alliance said: “A meteorite was likely the cause of the noise residents in the area heard.

“Usually when a meteorite falls a sonic boom will be heard.”

Luke Daly of UK Fireball Alliance and the University of Glasgow, said: “We think about 500 g of meteorite survived to the ground in approximately four fragments just south of Shrewsbury.

“Given the amount of wheat and oilseed rape in the area, looking for any fallen pieces is literally like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

The pieces that fell to the ground were small and unlikely to have caused any major disruption.

Professor Katie Joy of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences said: “The largest pieces won’t be bigger than an Easter Egg, and the smallest could be the size of a mini egg.”

This didn’t stop residents from neighbouring areas from hearing the meteorite as it broke up and fell.

Michele Isaac Keatley from Llanfyllin said: “So many people heard it from quite a wide range of places, but the consensus seemed to be it was a sonic boom from an aircraft

“I asked a friend, whose husband is in the RAF and works on Chinooks, and he said he didn't think they came this way, and also unlikely in the middle of the night."

Some residents had speculated that it was a small earthquake of 0.8 magnitude in Trewern that was registered by the British Geological Survey, however that incident occurred the night before.

Michele added: “It’s fascinating to learn that it was actually a meteorite.”