Asteroid Explodes Over Russia, Hundreds Injured

Cuba Update: Apparently, another potential meteor crash may have happened in Cuba today. Related? From the foreign language news site: "In a report released this morning by Rodas, town in the province of Cienfuegos, witnesses described a very bright light that has come to have large size, comparable to that of a bus, before exploding in the sky."

Meanwhile in Russia...

"it was really unexpectedly. it shined like 10 suns. all my windows in my house was broken. people was in panic in first hours. it's not funny, really. But people is calm now." - Facebook comment on CNN article

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Russians living near the Ural Mountains were in for a terrifying surprise yesterday evening (Friday morning, locally) on Valentines Day, February 14th, when a meteor zoomed through the sky and exploded overhead, causing windows to break and hundreds to be injured (last count,  725). So far, 270 buildings are damaged. Fortunately the vast majority of injuries appear to be non life-threatening.

From CNN.com:

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Amateur video footage showed a bright white streak moving rapidly across the sky, before exploding with an even brighter flash and a deafening bang.

The explosion occurred about 9:20 a.m. local time, as many people were out and about.

The national space agency, Roscosmos, said scientists believed one meteoroid had entered the atmosphere, where it burned and disintegrated into fragments, according to RIA Novosti.
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The resulting meteorites are believed to be scattered across three regions of Russia, one of them Chelyabinsk, as well as neighboring Kazakhstan, the news agency said.

One large chunk was discovered in a lake in the Chelyabinsk region, RIA Novosti cited the Chelyabinsk governor as saying.

Watch video footage of the explosion:

The frightening event apparently happened in and around the Ural Mountains of Russia.

Urals Mountains in Russia

Considering a much-talked-about asteroid - Asteroid 2012 DA14 - is due to pass by Earth this afternoon, many are scratching their heads about the timing and are a bit spooked.

Of course talk of the end of the world and aliens is brewing on UFO sites and conspiracy forums. The coincidence is a bit unnerving, and as with any "meteor" event, it often gets slapped into the UFO pile. Many believe the Valentines Day meteor may have been something else entirely, from a top-secret military weapon experiment gone wrong or even a crashing space craft. Russia has become famous for its apocalypse-fearing residents and intense paranormal and UFO events.