Jakarta, Oct. 6 -- The explosion and fireball witnessed by residents around Cirebon were caused by a sizeable meteor that fell into the Java Sea, Astronomy professor Thomas Djamaluddin from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) confirmed.

"I concluded that it was a fairly sizeable meteor that passed by," he stated on Monday.

According to Djamaluddin, the meteor crossed the Kuningan and Cirebon districts, West Java, from the southwest before falling into the Java Sea on Sunday (October 5), between 18:35 and 18:39 local time. (UTC+7).

He explained that the loud booming sound was generated as the meteor entered the lower atmosphere.

"When it entered the lower atmosphere, it created a shock wave, resulting in a booming sound....