Explosions and bright flashes in the sky over several locations in Russias Urals region, has sparked fears of a UFO crash, according to RT news.

The number of people injured by the blast above the mountain range soared to “nearly 1,000,” according to the Associated Press.

The crash — felt in Chelyabinsk, Tyumen and Sverdlovsk and elsewhere — resembled an earthquake, witnesses report.

There were conflicting reports. The Interfax news agency described the event as a meteor shower, a spokeswoman for Russias Emergency Ministry, told the AP. But the Interfax news agency described the incident as a single meteorite.”

It was definitely not a plane,” an emergency official told Reuters. “We are gathering the bits of information and have no data on the casualties so far.”

RT quotes witnesses who say the blast and unusual spectacle overhead had some residents fearing a UFO.“

My windows were not smashed, but I first thought that my house is being dismantled, then I thought it was a UFO, and my eventual thought was an earthquake,” Bukreeva Olga wrote on Twitter, according to the news site.

more at  Meteorite Crash In Russias Ural Mountains Sparks UFO Fears Video.