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"Fireball in sky" clue to blast

Neal Keeling and Rashid Razaq
14/10/2004

TWO "fireballs" in the sky could be clues to the massive mystery explosion which rocked part of Greater Manchester yesterday.

They were seen by midwife Jeanette Vagg as she drove home just minutes before the huge bang was heard.

And an expert at Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire believes the cause could be a bolide - a meteor between the size of a hazelnut and a tennis ball.

"When it hits the atmosphere, it shatters," said astronomer Ian Morison. "A loud explosion would be heard and the debris could break into a million little bits. It seems like a reasonable explanation for what happened."

Other theories for the massive noise in the Salford area include the an unlicensed industrial firework and a build-up of flammable gases in disused mine workings.

But Jeanette is convinced that meteorites are the answer.

Jeanette, who works at Trafford General, said: "I was driving home through Urmston towards Stretford and I saw them in the sky.

"They were black at the bottom with flames coming off them in a line. They were falling and one was a bit higher than the other. My first reaction was to think `I hope they're not bombs'. I drove a bit further and looked again, but they had gone."

As reported in yesterday's MEN, dozens of people called the police and fire service after hearing the blast at about 7.30am.

Chief Supt Brian Wroe of Salford police said: "The industrial firework is one of several possible explanations, as is an underground explosion.

"Officers have met with residents in the Old Clough Lane area of Worsley where we first received reports of an explosion. We have also spoken to the fire service, the gas companies and the local authority and not been able to find any rational explanation.

"We are keeping an open mind as we haven't been able to find any evidence of damage or destruction."

The blast was heard by people in Chorlton, Farnworth, Walkden, Worsley and Pendlebury. But police and the fire service have been unable to identify the source despite searching the area.

The investigation has now been closed unless members of the public suggest new lines of inquiry.

Earthquake experts today denied that a quake could have taken place in Greater Manchester.

Experts from the British Geological Society launched an investigation, but said that there was no evidence of any earthquake activity in the region.