A meteor at least 10 metres in diameter has crashed into marshland between Heswall and Parkgate.
In the early hours of this morning the object blazed a trail across the night sky before its impact just 200 metres from a path popular with walkers. Had the event occurred in daylight hours it is likely many people would have been in the vicinity.
Parkgate resident, Burt Wells, who lives in Fabian Avenue, described what happened: “I couldn’t sleep so I was making a cup of tea at about 4am. Suddenly the kitchen window lit up as if the sun had risen in a flash. Then it was gone. I ran outside and saw the remains of what looked like a vapour trail and then I heard a crash, no, a thud, like a giant beating a rug, just once! Bumph!”
The meteor was tracked by the radio telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire. Professor Richard Pierson told Heswall Today, “It is not uncommon for objects of this size to hit the earth, just think back to events in Russia in 2013 when a large meteor exploded in the skies above the city of Chelyabinsk. What made this event unusual is the fact that the object seemed to slow down as it entered the earth’s atmosphere. Normally we’d expect meteors like this one to burn up or break into fragments but clearly this one didn’t. We think it lost speed when it came up against the wave of hot air that rises from Wallasey Town Hall on a daily basis.”
When Heswall Today reached the scene of the strike just after sunrise fire crews and police officers had been in attendance for more than two hours and were keeping a close eye on the crater formed by the meteor.
A member of Wirral Borough Council’s Environmental Health department had been to inspect the crash site. As he emerged from the mist he said, “There is nothing to fear. Return to your homes. Earth people.”
When pressed by more questioning he became agitated, bared his teeth and ran off across Heswall golf course, shrieking.
A spokesman for Heswall Golf Club told us, “We have reports of a zombie like creature running amok on the 14th and 15th fairways. It is incredible, absolutely unbelievable – because it is obviously not a member and has not paid a green fee.”
We will bring you more news as and when we receive it.
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