Jakarta. A bright fireball and loud explosion that startled residents in parts of Cirebon, West Java, on Sunday evening were caused by a large meteor entering Earth’s atmosphere and falling into the Java Sea, according to the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).

“I concluded that it was a fairly large meteor passing through,” BRIN astronomer Thomas Djamaluddin confirmed on Monday.

The meteor reportedly traversed the skies over Kuningan and Cirebon from the southwest between 6.35 PM and 6.39 PM local time, before crashing into the Java Sea.

Thomas explained that the booming sound was produced as the meteor entered lower layers of the atmosphere, generating a shockwave. The Cirebon office of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) detected the resulting tremor at 6.39 PM

“The blast and the light seen by residents posed no danger,” he said.

Residents in eastern Cirebon, particularly around Lemahabang, reported seeing a fast-moving fireball streak across the sky before vanishing in the distance, followed by a loud explosion. Several security cameras also captured the glowing object around 6:35 p.m., while BMKG’s ACJM seismic sensor picked up significant ground vibrations at the same moment.

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