Russia Meteor Explosion: The Web's Best Videos (PHOTO/VIDS)
A meteor has hit Central Russia's Ural region, triggering a UFO scare and engulfing the nation in panic.
More than 250 people were reportedly left injured when the meteorite exploded with a bang, shattering window panes.
Residents of the affected cities were shocked to see a bright trail of burning rocks in the sky followed by two loud explosion sounds and tremors that shook many buildings in the city.
The incident took place above the skies of Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg, and Tyumen. Citizens in Kazakhstan also witnessed the meteor impact.
Check out the video of the Meteorite explosion here:
Citizens immediately took to Twitter, posting pictures and videos of the aftermath of the cosmic explosion.
"Meteorite shook Chelyabinsk this morning. Shook my whole building and woke me up!" Michael Garnett tweeted.
"My windows were not smashed, but I first thought that my house is being dismantled, then I thought it was a UFO, and my eventual thought was an earthquake," Bukreeva Olga wrote after witnessing the incident.
"This explosion, my ears popped, windows were smashed... phone doesn't work," Evgeniya Gabun wrote about the incident on Twitter.
"I have as much heart stopped. This very moment," Marilana wrote on Twitter. (Translated from Russian)
One of the witnesses was able to capture the loud noise of explosion in this video:
Another video posted by a Youtube user shows a video recorded by a CCTV camera at a work place. The employees who are seen standing near a window are captured being blown away by the noise of explosion. Check out the video here:
However, the question of whether it was a single meteorite, or meteor shower, has yet to be fully resolved.
"There was no meteor shower over the Urals, as it was reported earlier - there was only one meteorite. It burned as it was passing through the lower atmosphere," an official told the Interfax news agency, which had earlier reported that it was a meteor shower.
Witnesses posted several videos showing the aftermath by the cosmic bang. See one of the videos, uploaded by Misclifex, here:
Meanwhile there are reports that the meteorite was shot down by the Russian air defences.
"The meteorite was intercepted by an air defense unit at the Urzhumka settlement near Chelyabinsk," TV-Novosti reported via RT.com.
READ Russian Meteor Impact Photos: Nasa Says Meteor Was Too Small to be Detected [PHOTOS]
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