An explosion and a crater reported near the capital of Nicaragua raised suspicions on Monday that a meteorite had split off from an asteroid that passed by Earth this weekend and struck our planet. But NASA scientists have now cast doubt on whether the blast outside Managua was even a meteorite at all.

The blast left a hole 40 feet (12 meters) wide and 19 feet (5 meters) deep outside the international airport serving Nicaragua's capital. Some Nicaraguan astronomers quoted in early news reports attributed the blast to a chip off a weekend asteroid flyby.

But outside meteorite experts later downplayed links to the small asteroid, dubbed 2014 RC, which passed harmlessly by Earth over the weekend. About the