Witnesses report loud noise in Indonesia's capital; TV reports meteor seen

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesians saw an object with a tail of fire hurtling toward earth near their capital early Sunday before hearing a loud explosion. An expert speculated it might have been a meteor.

There were no reports of injuries.

Indonesian air force radar detected an unidentified object falling toward the earth at a great speed before disappearing around the same time the noise was heard, a spokesman said.

Muji Raharto, an astronomy professor with the Bandung Institute of Technology in West Java province, suggested the object was a large meteor that burned up as it fell through the earth's atmosphere, "causing a loud noise."

There were no reports of any objects hitting the earth in or close to the capital.

Several callers to el-Shinta radio station reported seeing a falling object with a fiery tail before hearing a noise like an explosion at around 7:30 a.m. in western Jakarta.

Police have been on high alert in Indonesia amid warnings from several Western governments that Islamic militants blamed for a series of attacks in recent years were planning more bombings.