© 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.
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.