Fire in the SkyS


Comet

Video: NASA excitedly prepares for 'once in a lifetime' viewing of comet narrowly missing Mars

Tom Boggioni
Rawstory
Mon, 13 Oct 2014 23:55 UTC
Image
© NASAMars simulation
Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory are preparing all of their assets orbiting and roving Mars to observe and collect data from what they call a "once in a lifetime" viewing of a never-seen-before comet passing within 87,000 miles of the surface of the planet. Comet C/2013 A1, also known as comet Siding Spring, will pass Mars on Oct. 19, at less than half the distance between Earth and our moon and less than one-tenth the distance of any known comet flyby of Earth.

"This is a cosmic science gift that could potentially keep on giving, and the agency's diverse science missions will be in full receive mode," said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "This particular comet has never before entered the inner solar system, so it will provide a fresh source of clues to our solar system's earliest days."

According to NASA, Siding Spring came from the Oort Cloud, a spherical region of space surrounding our sun and occupying space at a distance between 5,000 and 100,000 astronomical units, and believed to be material left over from the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. Scientists hope to use this opportunity to learn more about the materials, including water and carbon compounds, that existed during the solar system's formation.
Read More...
Comet 2

'Fallstreak hole' in Perth sky puzzles locals

Amber Johnston
Perth Now
Wed, 08 Oct 2014 09:22 UTC
Image
© Glenn RogersPerth skies Tuesday morning
A mysterious cloud caused a stir over Perth this morning. Several PerthNow readers have woken to a sight described as "out of this world" after spotting a puzzling UFO-shaped cloud in the sky.

The unusual cloud formation even had experts baffled, with the Bureau of Meteorology taking some time to investigate what the strange phenomenon may be.

Comment: It seems that if the official hypothesis of fallstreak holes recounted above were true, the phenomena should occur more frequently with our cooling upper atmosphere and heavy air traffic. Besides the hypothesis does not account for the circular shape which seems more like a shock wave from above than ice crystals falling from a planes vapor trail. Consider the recent years exponential growth in incoming fireballs heavily impacting our upper atmosphere, a fact that mainstream science usually shies away from or tries to cover up with 'everything is normal and understood' stories, as demonstrated above. The probability of this phenomena being a product of incoming comet debris is high.

Read More...
Fireball 5

Locals report 'fireball' over northern Arizona skies

Mark Carlson and D.S. Woodfill
azcentral.com
Sat, 04 Oct 2014 15:41 UTC
Fireball
© NWS Flagstaff
The National Weather Service in Flagstaff said it has had several reports of a meteor streaking across the northern Arizona skies Saturday morning. The incident occurred between 8:55 a.m. and 9 a.m.

Meteorologist Mark Stubblefield with the National Weather Service said the fact that it was visible during the daytime indicates it was quite bright as it entered the atmosphere and was burning up over parts of Arizona.

One person told the Weather Service the object "looked like a flare," Stubblefield said.

Stubblefield said there was some smoke visible for 10 to 15 minutes after the initial calls.

Witnesses in Holbrook saw the meteor to the northwest, and other reports had it north of Winslow.
Read More...
Fireball 3

Meteor over Canada caught on video


The Huffington Post B.C.
Thu, 02 Oct 2014 14:30 UTC

An Okanagan farmer who regularly takes photos of the sunrise captured a whole lot more this week when she spotted a meteor in the sky. Janette Casey Ewens, who owns Labyrinth Farms north of Kamloops, was in the barn yard at 6 a.m. on Monday when she saw a "thing" falling from above, she told The Huffington Post B.C.

"I ran back up to the house and grabbed my camera and snapped a few pics then hit the record button," she said in an email. "It happened twice a few minutes apart. The second time it happened faster."

The American Meteor Society received three reports of a fireball being spotted from West Kelowna, Cranbrook, and Three Hills in Alberta. Joanne Rosvick, an astronomer and associate professor at Thompson Rivers University, said it was likely space debris that perhaps came from a satellite, reported CFJC.
Read More...
Fireball 4

Meteor lights up Utah's early morning sky

Michael McFall
The Slat Lake Tribune
Thu, 02 Oct 2014 17:44 UTC
Image
© File photo
Rodger Fry had just picked up his morning newspaper, when he looked up at the constellation Orion - and saw something most unexpected. At about 4:32 a.m., the president of the Salt Lake Astronomical Society saw a green fireball soaring through the Thursday morning sky. Several others Fry talked to later saw the same thing.

"There was no sonic boom but it was quite large," said Fry, who lives near 5900 S. 800 West in Murray. "It looked like [the meteor] was ... a little smaller than the sun."

That silence tells experts like Fry that the meteor that lit up Utah's skies was likely far, far away from us. Patrick Wiggins, the NASA/JPL solar system ambassador to Utah, hasn't spoken to anyone who heard any sonic boom associated with the meteor.

Comment: See video footage below. Notice how the fireball just 'goes out' after the first flash. Fascinating!


A second video can be viewed here.

Read More...
Fireball 5

Swarm of fireballs rain down from the sky in Michigan

MissLisa
Youtube
Mon, 29 Sep 2014 00:00 UTC
Image
Youtube description:
Fireballs in the sky Davison, Michigan September 25,2014 My camera died on the first video. This is after I plugged it in.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkmIc... this is a link to the first video.

Comment:
So many new comets were discovered last year that astronomers named 2013 the 'Year of the Comet'. Less popularlized was the noticeable increase in fireball meteors observed in the Earth's atmosphere. Another year has passed and fireballs are still raining down like never before, with their rate apparently increasing exponentially.

SOTT.net has been cataloguing fireball events since 2002, and a couple of other websites have sprung up since then, but in general the lack of record-keeping and media coverage of this phenomenon is shocking, especially given how extraordinary the phenomenon is (or rather, was - apparently it's 'normal' now!) and whatever it may portend for civilization, sometime in the future, if not immediately.

2013 saw a dramatic increase in meteor fireballs - What does 2014 have in store?


Read More...
Fireball 2

Meteor caught on Russian dash cam

Jason Major
Universe Today
Tue, 30 Sep 2014 20:00 UTC
Meteor
© Screen Capture
Thanks to the ubiquitousness of dashboard-mounted video cameras in Russia yet another bright object has been spotted lighting up the sky over Siberia, this time a "meteor-like object" seen on the evening of Saturday, Sept. 27.

The video above, shared today by RT.com, shows the object as it streaked toward the western horizon over the Kemerovo region of Siberia. Even through the glare of streetlights and oncoming car headlights it could easily be seen... as to exactly what it was, that's not yet known.
Read More...
Fireball 5

Fireball spotted above the Carolinas


WCNC.com
Sat, 27 Sep 2014 12:15 UTC
Fireball
© Joel Rydel/Facebook Screengrab
Charlotte, N.C. -- Dozens of fireball sightings were reported across the Carolinas and Virginia overnight.

According to the American Meteor Society's website, people in Charlotte, Mint Hill and Lancaster were among those who spotted the streaks in the sky. Reports came in around 11:15 Friday night and 3:15 Saturday morning. Twenty-nine reports were made in total.

One man in Virginia Beach captured the light on camera. Jim Rydel's video doesn't directly capture the meteors but shows the flashes in the sky. Some say it appears like more and more fireballs are passing over us but NBC Charlotte's Brad Panovich says it's likely just social media. People can make reports more easily and more often nowadays.

Brad encourages anyone who saw the fireballs to make their report here.
Read More...
Fireball 3

Four large fireballs reported over USA

Michael Wesp
www.ketknbc.com
Wed, 24 Sep 2014 20:37 UTC
AMS Fireball Reports
© AMS
The American Meteor Society (AMS) says four large, unique fireball events were reported Tuesday night.

AMS stated three of the events all occurred within an hour and a half of each other--- a rare happening. The AMS concluded each event was unique, due to the analysis of time, proximity of witnesses and pointing data gathered. It's likely several were captured by NASA, said AMS.

Locations of the events were reported all the way from Florida to Michigan.

Anyone who witnessed the fireball can report the event to the AMS on their website.

Comment: SOTT's fireball heat map for the past year:



Read More...
Attention

Cover-up? Columbus, Georgia shakes after loud boom blamed on planes

Ben Wright
Ledger-Enquirer
Tue, 16 Sep 2014 00:00 UTC
A military aircraft flying over Columbus apparently broke the sound barrier Tuesday afternoon with a thunderous boom, setting off cars alarms and sending people out into the streets.

The loudest sound ever heard by some residents rocked the city shortly before 5 p.m. It was heard at the airport, north to Midland, west to Phenix City and east to the Fort Benning reservation.

A sonic boom is created when an object is traveling through the air faster than the speed of sound. Breaking the sound barrier is only possible with a military aircraft.


Comment: One would think after the amount of media coverage given to the Russian meteor in 2013 that reporters and people would realize another possible source of objects breaking the sound barrier!

This was an extreme boom and it is doubtful the boom was caused by a sonic boom from aircraft given the information provided in this article. A reader of another article about the boom commented:
I don't buy the 'routine testing' soundbyte either. We have lived here for many years, and we've never heard anything like that since we came to Columbus. Even an M1A1 Abrams, or a Paladin aren't as loud as what we heard today, ubless you're very close to them. I also thought there was an FAA regulation against making sonic booms like that over cities...unless there was a darn good reason. GA Air Nat'. Guard routine testing should normally not be done over cities-whatever their website says.
Looks like the military aircraft sonic boom excuse is being given in this case as a means to cover-up the increasing frequency of meteors entering and exploding in the atmosphere. Can't have people waking up and realizing their leaders are powerless to protect them.

Here is a video of the Russian meteor as a reminder:




Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said there were some military flights in the area but not supersonic. "We are aware that military flight activity was underway over the area, but we don't know about any supersonic flights," she said.

Shortly after the boom, a Columbus patrolman near the airport said two aircraft flying over broke the sound barrier, but Police Lt. J.F. Ross said nothing had been confirmed in connection with the loud noise.
Read More...