Explosion shakes town
RESIDENTS of a North-West Tasmanian town woke blearyeyed Sunday morning after the sound of a “massive explosion” shook the streets just before 12.30am, with Tasmania Police sharing a possible theory.
Dozens of Wynyard residents took to social media to share their experiences, with streets reported to have been affected including Dodgin, New, Reid, Calder, Saunders, Austin and Martin streets.
People as far afield as East Wynyard and Burnie Airport also reported hearing the
noise. “It shook our house, it was so bloody loud.
“I expected to see an exploded building when I went out to check,” said one resident.
“Heard it in Dodgin St, sounded like a massive explosion. Definitely wasn’t fireworks,” said another.
“It shook my house too, I thought something landed on my roof,” reported a third.
Tasmania Police told the Mercury it received a call at 12.22am on Sunday reporting an “explosion in the vicinity of New St”.
“Officers had a bit of a look around and spoke to a few people near the wharf,” Tasmania Police said.
“(A witness) reports there may have been some kids in the area who let off a seal bomb.”
The representative stressed that information from the public had not been confirmed.
There were no other relevant reports in the area or further calls, the representative said.
At least two locals reported seeing a “bright burning light” in the sky during the relevant time, leading to theories the bang could have been caused by a meteorite or piece of space junk.
A Bureau of Meteorology spokesman said they had “no evidence” of any natural phenomena in the area at the relevant time that could have caused the noise.
When asked of the possibility of the noise being caused by a meteorite or falling space junk, the spokesman said they didn’t believe “any of our systems would be capable of picking that up”.
Waratah-Wynyard Mayor Robby Walsh said he lived about 5km from Wynyard and didn’t hear any noise despite staying up late.
He said he expected it to be a talking point at Sunday’s Wynyard Foreshore Market.