Several loud blasts believed to be caused by a meteor shower echoed across the Indonesian capital Jakarta and nearby towns early on Sunday, startling residents who reported seeing flying objects in the sky.
Police said they had found no evidence that the blasts were caused by bomb attacks. An official from the Indonesian space center LAPAN told the official Antara news agency the explosions were likely to have been caused by a meteor shower.
“It’s suspected that a fireball originating from a big meteor entered the earth’s atmosphere. ... This created the explosion,” said LAPAN space expert Thomas Djamaluddin.
Police, on high alert after warnings from Western governments of possible terrorist attacks over the Christmas and New Year period, had said they were investigating the blasts.
Residents heard them around 7:30 a.m. in Jakarta, the satellite city of Tangerang, and Serang in West Java province.
“The police have searched throughout the regency and we found nothing to indicate a bomb or meteor,” said one officer on duty in Tangerang.
Indonesian air force spokesman Sagom Tambun said there had been no radar readings indicating a meteor.
One caller to El Shinta radio from Bogor, just south of Jakarta, reported seeing a large object hit the earth in the distance.
Terrorism alerts
Western governments, especially Australia, have warned that an international hotel could be targeted for attack, possibly one of the three Hiltons in the world’s most populous Muslim country.
In Washington, the U.S. State Department issued a fresh warning late last week for Americans to avoid non-essential travel to Indonesia, saying “the terrorist threat continues and may increase over the December-January holiday period.”
“Reports indicate that terrorists are planning attacks against a wide variety of targets,” the State Department said.
Police have tightened security across the country.
Islamic militants from Jemaah Islamiah, seen as the regional arm of al-Qaida, have launched bomb attacks in recent years in Indonesia, hitting nightclubs in Bali, the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta and the Australian embassy in the capital.
In the worst attack, 202 people were killed in Bali two years when militants bombed two nightclubs. The dead included 88 Australians.
Police have deployed an additional 18,400 personnel for Christmas and New Year to protect churches and entertainment centers across Indonesia.