Investigation into deep impact...

The Guardia Civil and the Costitx observatory have opened up a full investigation into a ball of fire which at least five witnesses saw plummet out of the sky and into the sea near Cabo Blanco in Lluchmajor on Wednesday afternoon. At the moment investigators are working on two theories, that it was either a flaming ball of space junk or a meteorite. But one thing is for sure, the investigators know they are not dealing with any hallucinations and that at least five people watched the phenomenon from various points on the island. The burning ball of fire fell out of the sky at 17.35 and the fire ball ditched in the sea between the isle of Cabrera and the cliffs at Cabo Blanco. The object was said to have been travelling at a great speed from west to south and the phenomenon lasted about five seconds, time enough for the bright light the fire ball generated to have been spotted by witnesses. The 112 emergency telephone number received the calls and at first the Guardia Civil thought they could have been dealing with a light plane. But air traffic control at Palma airport reported that their radar had not picked up any strange movements. The investigation was in full swing yesterday and police sources said that they are working on a variety of explanations. The director of the observatory at Costitx, Salvador Sanchez, confirmed reports of the phenomenon, adding that the centre also received a number of calls reporting the sighting on Wednesday afternoon. “We could be dealing with a large piece of space junk, similar to the piece which hit China a year ago, or even a meteorite, but the latter is most unlikely.” Sanchez said that the phenomenon was very bright and left a large wake.