Fire in the SkyS

Meteor

Canada: Activity In The Skies Over Cranbrook

Did a meteorite fly over Cranbrook Wednesday night? Local resident Jennifer Doering is sure one did because she saw it around 9:45 p.m. and even saw it explode as it came close to earth.

Doering and her boyfriend were driving in their car when their attention was suddenly drawn to a bright light high overhead between the Highcrest Trailer court and Kootenay Orchards Elementary School.

"All of a sudden I could see this bright, bright light. It was like white lightning and it was really wide. Then it blew apart and it went more into a red, orangey colour and it appeared to land somewhere."

The pair drove around to see if they could find remnants of the exploded meteorite, which appeared to come down in the 10th Street and 14th Avenue area not too far from Parkland Middle School. But no remnants or extra-terrestrial material was found leaving Doering wondering what she really saw.

"It was as low as a helicopter would go. That's why it had to land somewhere in town."

RCMP spokesman Eric Ausman said no calls about meteorites or other unidentified flying objects were received at the detachment the night Doering saw the meteorite. Ausman said he was out walking his dog the same night not far from where Doering saw the space object, but he saw nothing unusual at all.

Meteor

US: Possible Meteor Sightings Reported in Illinois, Wisconsin

Chicago - Sightings of a bright orange and green light moving slowly across the skies early Monday morning has people in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana talking about a possible meteor.

The National Weather Service confirmed they received calls from residents in Wisconsin early Monday.

Callers to WGN radio describing the light hailed from Mokena, Orland Park, Matteson, Michigan City, Belvidere, Peoria and Wisconsin. The callers said around 4 or 4:10 a.m., they saw the big orange and green light streak across the sky.

Bizarro Earth

US: Early risers spot green fireball over Central Maryland

Maryland Meteor
© Baltimore SunThe file photo is probably close to what these people saw
Reports are beginning to arrive about what sounds like a rather spectacular fireball meteor over Central Maryland just before dawn Monday morning. Not sure how many people would be outside to see this at such an hour, but let's see what other accounts might come in.

Here's what we have so far.

"I had a major meteorite sighting over Cockeysville at 0445 hrs this AM. Large green fireball with pieces breaking off and burning off. From the northwest to the southeast. Way cool- first one ever!" - John Selway, White Hall, Md.

"I was headed east on Rt. 23 (East West Highway) in Forest Hill this morning at about 4:40am. When I reached the intersection at Conowingo Road, I noticed an amazing bright streak of green light falling diagonally through the sky. I lost sight of it as it appeared to go behind the buildings at the intersection. I've never seen anything like it in my life. When I arrived at work, I immediately started searching on atmospheric sightings and came across your blog. Can a meteor have this type of color?" -Michele

Meteor

US: New Meteor Reports Near Janesville, Wisconsin This Morning

Sullivan - The National Weather Service says it received a number of reports of possible meteor sightings early Monday morning.

The weather service says its Sullivan office got a call from Rock County 911 dispatchers about sightings by two citizens and a sheriff's deputy. They said a bright green or blue light, followed by a flash could be seen north of Janesville around 4:00 a.m.

Dane County dispatchers also received a call with a similar description. The weather service says it didn't pick anything up on radar.

And, the National Weather Service office in Duluth, Minn., received a call from the Iron County Sheriff's Department reporting a citizen who saw a bright flash and then "something glowing in the woods."

Meteor

Fireball blazes a trail across southern Spain


Meteor

Indonesia: Blast in East Jakarta Believed to Be Meteorite

Damage by Meteorite
© JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma WijayaOne of the houses in East Jakarta nearly demolished by meteorites
Police and astronomers are investigating Thursday's blast from a falling object that damaged three homes in Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, which witnesses claim was a meteorite strike.

Forensics experts from the police and National Aeronautics and Space Agency (Lapan) investigators are combing the site, with the latter saying that while there was no conclusive proof the damage was caused by a meteorite, it was the most likely explanation.

Police ruled out earlier speculation that the incident was a gas canister exploding.

One house was moderate damage and two adjoining properties suffered minor damage after blast on Jalan Delima II. There were no reported casualties.

Lapan researcher Abdurrahman said no fragments of the projectile had been found but the deep crater in the floor of the house, the residual heat footprint and melted items pointed to a meteorite.

"I suspect the object impacted at high velocity, hit the floor, bounced back and hit the ceiling, then fell back down," he said. "It's extremely difficult to recover the fragments, what with the rubble and broken glass, and it being so dark in here."

Abdurrahman said any suspected meteorite fragment would be taken back to Lapan's headquarters in Bandung for analysis.

Meteor

Video: Fiery Meteorite Falls on Israeli Beach

The lifeguard captured the meteorite in a mobile phone video:


Israel Meteorite
© Ilan Lilush, Tel Aviv PoliceLifeguards and the small object.
An unidentified object thought to be a small meteor fell from the sky on one of Bat Yam's beaches, just south of Tel Aviv, Saturday afternoon, Ynet has learned.

No injuries were reported, but witnesses said the object fell very close to the lifeguard booth and caused a small fire. The meteorite landed in a beach earmarked for religious visitors that features separate swimming times for men and women.

The beach was crowded at the time of the incident, and many visitors gathered around the object after it landed.

Police said the object was a meteor and sappers headed to the scene in order to look into the celestial object.

Meteor

US: Fayetteville residents rattled by mysterious, loud boom

The boom was so loud it shook houses in Fayetteville and was followed by a bright flash.

A scene right out of a Stephen King novel or the latest sci-fi movie came to Fayetteville Saturday night, but no one is quite sure what happened.

A sonic boom from a plane? A fireworks explosive set off by kids? A blown transformer or street light?

Or could it be some unsuspecting creature that got "fried" by electricity from a power line and then vaporized on the spot?

Susan Rausch, who lives on Oakwood Drive in Fayetteville, jumped out of her seat when she heard the boom that caused the house to shake.

"I can't imagine what it could have been," she said. "It sounded like a gas explosion. It was so loud I jumped out and ran outside to see if I could see or smell anything. But there was nothing."

The loud boom and bright flash of light was seen, heard and felt by Fayetteville residents in a roughly a 2- to 3-mile circlular area centered around Hoag Lane by Wellwood Middle School and Redfield Drive near Immaculate Conception School, Manlius police said.

Meteor

UK: Meteor Shower Sparks UFO Calls

A meteor shower is believed to have sparked a spate of calls to coastguards on Friday night from people who thought they were seeing flares or UFOs.

A Portland coastguard spokesman said there had been reports of green flare sightings up and down the coast, from Brixham to Southampton, at around 10pm.

"We were right in the middle of meteorite activity so no action was taken."

A Christchurch man told the Daily Echo: "We saw the lights around 11.30pm. They definitely weren't Chinese lanterns, when we were out in the garden.

"It was really strange."

Meteor

Update: Meteorites found in southwestern Wisconsin

Image
© John ValleyFragment of a meteorite from a meteor that blasted a debris field over a mile in length
Soaring meteor lights up skies across the Midwest.

Scientists say an apparent fragment from a meteor that lit up Midwestern skies this week has been recovered in southwestern Wisconsin.

The fragment weighs 0.3 pounds and is about the size of an unshelled peanut. The meteor had streaked across the sky about 10 p.m. Wednesday and was visible from southern Wisconsin and northern Iowa to central Missouri.

University of Wisconsin geology professor John Valley says fragment has a so-called fusion crust. The paper-thin blackened coating results when a meteor superheats as it speeds through the atmosphere.

Valley says the man who found the fragment lent it to university scientists for a two-hour analysis.

Based on preliminary tests, the meteor appears to have come from the vast asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Comment: HUGE fireball turns sky bright green over southern Wisconsin, starts 9 fires along 1-mile stretch