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Mysterious Bang, Flash Heard Near Montreal Sparks Twitter Speculation

Mysterious Bang, Flash Reported Near Montreal
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A strange bang and flash of light sighted near Montreal on Tuesday night sparked many tweets of speculation as Quebeckers wondered what just happened.

The Montreal Gazette reported that Hudson, St-Lazare and other towns near Montreal heard a loud noise and saw a flash of blue-green light around 8 p.m. ET. People as far as upstate New York and Cornwall, Ont. also reported seeing the flash.

But what was the cause?

It's not clear yet, but the guesses on social media range from meteor to UFO.

Andrew Fazekas, a member of the Royal Astronomical Society, told the CBC it could have been a shockwave caused by a meteorite.

Fazekas told CTV that a meteor travels at up to 60,000 kilometres per hour and could emit a sonic boom as it enters the lower part of the atmosphere. That could explain the bang heard across the region.

He said it could take a few days for officials to gather evidence and determine whether or not it was a meteor.

The Gazette reports that neither Environment Canada nor the Sûreté du Québec were able to say what the source of the bang was on Tuesday night.

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