WHAT were you doing when the sonic boom shook Dorset?

A year ago to this day, during the afternoon of Saturday March 20, homes across the county were shaken by a huge sonic boom, with tremors felt across the south west of England as well as parts of France and the Channel Islands.

A single 'boom' - similar to an explosion - was heard just after 2.45pm. After the initial 'boom', an echo could be heard and tremors could be felt as the sound reverberated for several minutes afterwards, shaking homes, rattling windows and setting off car alarms.

Others said they heard a series of loud bangs.

Commenting at the time, Melissa Rees-Marriott said: "Myself and my seven year-old daughter were on the beach in Swanage and we heard a noise that I first thought might be distant thunder.

"But we only heard it once and the sky didn't really look dark enough for a storm so then I suggested to her that maybe it was a sonic boom (which I've explained to her before and I've heard lots of times).

"She said 'but I can't hear a jet plane' and I said 'you don't always hear the plane just the sonic boom'. Not sure what it was."

The meteor was captured over Jersey by 9 year-old Kitty O'Prey

Another resident said: "Sometime after 3pm I heard what I believed was thunder.

"However it was one rumble so I didn't pay any further attention. Then I did what most millennials do and picked up my smart phone and scrolled mindlessly through Facebook.

"I was surprised to see that friends had posted about this noise. I was in Frampton but I could see it was heard in Sherbourne, Portland, Dorchester and Crossways. Theories flowed, Could it be a sonic boom?"

Experts spent much of the day piecing together the evidence - and social media lit up as news of the blast quickly gained the attention of national press, with various theories being circulated on Twitter.

 

Early speculation on social media was that military planes flying overhead had caused the boom - but those rumours were later quashed when the Ministry of Defence said it was not responsible.

Weymouth resident Mike Foster said: "I was on the Rodwell Trail when I heard it. I originally thought it was some old wartime ordinance being destroyed, but there was definitely two booms, and I was aware of the sound not dying away for nearly 30secs - which did NOT sound like a detonation.

"As I was outside, I didn't feel ground shake or anything - so I reckon it was sonic rather than seismic. I have to admit surprise that MoD have denied it being a couple of Eurofighters going supersonic."

On Sunday the British Geological Survey said that a "probable sonic event" had taken place in Dorset, Somerset and Devon. It said the descriptions reported by residents were consistent with those of a sonic boom.

The booms were distinctly audible on CCTV footage captured by East Fleet Farm Touring Park in Chickerell.

Manager James Newman spoke of the moment he heard it.

He said: "It was a big surprise - particularly as it's so quiet here at the minute, so the boom sounded very loud and rumbled on for about 10 seconds.

"We were in the office getting everything ready to reopen next month, and suddenly heard it. My colleague and I both jumped up and wondered what it was.

"When we'd had a chance to think about it, we realised it sounded like a distinct sonic boom noise, but there was nothing obvious in the sky as to what it could have been.

"It's not unheard of to have a military jet flying at speed but then you'd expect to see it - it was very much a sudden boom out of nowhere and then nothing to show for it in the sky.

"I've heard a sonic boom before which is very similar in sound - but it continued on for longer than normal."

After the RAF denied it was caused by jets, there was then growing evidence to suggest it was caused by a meteor fireball.

Among those first to put forward the theory was astronomer Will Gater who was captivated by the blast and spent much of the weekend discussing the evidence on Twitter.

Mr Gater, working with physicists at Oxford University, studied the phenomenon throughout the day, quickly gaining attention of social media users as they shared their findings - concluding that the boom was caused by a meteor fireball 'bolide' entering the Earth's atmosphere.

A meteor bolide - or 'fireball' - is an extremely bright meteor, comparable to a full moon. It is caused when rock matter hurtles into the Earth's atmosphere from space.

"This event just highlights how fantastically exciting astronomy can be," Mr Gater said at the time.

"There are several lines of evidence that suggest that what was heard across the south-west UK was the sonic boom from a meteor bolide in our atmosphere; there are visual reports, dashcam footage and satellite imagery, all of which are broadly concurrent with the recorded booms and rumbling sounds."

That theory was confirmed when footage surfaced of a daytime meteor hurtling through the sky at around 14.53pm, captured on dashcam by a taxi driver on the island of Jersey.

It also emerged that people in France witnessed a similar phenomenon at around the same time - and a 'boom' was also reported in Normandy.

Three distinct 'booms' can be heard on an audio recording captured by resident Joe Stockwell.

He said: "I was out sound recording birds near to Waddock Cross when all of a sudden my ears were nearly blown out by a terrific bang.

"I removed my headphones and could hear the sound reverberating, rumbling away. All the birds I was recording took flight and after 20 seconds or so the sound had gone.

"I assumed with was live firing from the nearby ranges but to my surprise I later discovered it was a meteorite, pretty cool!"

The event caught the attention of physicist Dr Mason, past President of the British Astronomical Association and friend of the late Sir Patrick Moore, who believes a meteorite fell to Earth that day - possibly on an area of eastern Dorset – after it exploded, causing the boom.

Bournemouth Echo: The meteor was captured over Jersey by 9 year-old Kitty O'PreyThe meteor was captured over Jersey by 9 year-old Kitty O'Prey

Dr Mason launched an appeal for information and called upon his old amateur astronomer friend, Geoff Kirby of Weymouth, to help spread the word.

Commenting at the time Mr Kirby said: "John thinks the meteorite went from west to east going over Dorchester and came down somewhere in eastern Dorset, east of Bere Regis, or possibly even western Hampshire. There may be rock fragments on someone's property.

"It if went down in a forest then we don't have a hope in finding it but there's a chance someone may across some small lumps in their garden.

"There was a similar event when scientists were pretty spot on about the location when a meteorite fell in Gloucestershire."