Devon and Cornwall Police were inundated with calls reporting an earth tremor on Thursday evening after a loud bang shook the region. The DCPA said they initially suspected it had been hit by a mini-earthquake as calls flooded into reporting the incident.

However the British Geological Survey could find no evidence of an earth tremor and suggested that the massive bang was in fact caused by the sonic boom from a meteor.

DCPA Inspector Gareth Twigg told the BBC, “The first calls reported sounds like an explosion. Further calls also described noise and then objects shaking. One lady on Dartmoor who was alive during World War II said it was like a bomb going off.”

Around the 20th of October every year, the earth passes through a stream of debris from Halley’s Comet. The Orionid meteor showers should peak during tonight with the moon setting just before midnight, so it may be possible to see a good display of meteors if there is no cloud cover.

The shower is expected to continue until just before dawn on Sunday.