Part 1: A show of gold
Thursday Oct 3, 8:00pm Saw what appeared to be a low-altitude fireball, heading north from the plains, into the southern end of the Sangre de Cristos, just southeast of Santa Fe.
When I first saw it, it was in full glory; I don't know how much I missed. It burned brilliant green, with active, changing head and tail, for several (3-6) seconds, then disintegrated in a show of gold, into 4 or 5 smaller pieces, glowing white, spread out in a line, until they seemed to burn out, another 3-5 seconds later.
Fire in the Sky
February 12, 1947
This week marks the golden anniversary of what is arguably the most spectacular meteorite fall ever seen. At 10:40 a.m. on February 12, 1947, a incredibly bright fireball seared its way across the sky of eastern Siberia and rained around 70 tons of iron meteorites onto the rugged landscape. Because it was so well documented, the Sikhote-Alin fall proved a great boon to meteorite science.
This week marks the golden anniversary of what is arguably the most spectacular meteorite fall ever seen. At 10:40 a.m. on February 12, 1947, a incredibly bright fireball seared its way across the sky of eastern Siberia and rained around 70 tons of iron meteorites onto the rugged landscape. Because it was so well documented, the Sikhote-Alin fall proved a great boon to meteorite science.
It wasn't the end of the world. It just looked like it to those people who saw a cosmic fireworks show over Southwest skies.
A midday meteor streaking above West Texas and New Mexico on Thursday sent residents scurrying to their phones to report what many feared was an airplane exploding or some kind of aerial collision.
A midday meteor streaking above West Texas and New Mexico on Thursday sent residents scurrying to their phones to report what many feared was an airplane exploding or some kind of aerial collision.
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| ©CNN |
| Satellite image of meteor |
The fireball left a spectacular glowing trail in the night sky
According to the research done by Dominique Caudron, an amateur astronomer in the North of France, the falling point would be located "a little bit toward the East of Albi, in the surroundings of Paulinet".
In an article published by le Figaro, Pierre Lagrange, a sociologist of sciences and member of the College of Experts working in a team of study and information on Unidentified Space Phenomena (Geipan) at the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (National Center of Space Studies) in Toulouse, gives a precise description of the calculations of the young astronomer.
This new localization helps to understand the many reports from witnesses gathered in the Tarn department, even if the celestial object was also seen in other departments of the 'Midi toulousain' (the region surrounding Toulouse).
Visitors from space ?
A plane on fire ?
Just after 6pm Friday 25th January, residents in the southern French city of Avignon rang the local police to report seeing "strange blue and green lights in the sky." Almost immediately Gendarmes and firefighters took to the roads to follow the lights, fearing that their source may be an aircraft on fire and about to crash. However it was quickly established that the blue and green trail of light was in fact coming from a meteorite.
A plane on fire ?
Just after 6pm Friday 25th January, residents in the southern French city of Avignon rang the local police to report seeing "strange blue and green lights in the sky." Almost immediately Gendarmes and firefighters took to the roads to follow the lights, fearing that their source may be an aircraft on fire and about to crash. However it was quickly established that the blue and green trail of light was in fact coming from a meteorite.
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| ©Dirk Beauregard |
Yesterday the people of Santa Lucía were surprised when a black porous rock fell from the sky. Today the CASLEO (Astronomic Complex El Leoncito) is analyzing the rock to determine if it is a meteorite or not.
"It was like a fire ball that traversed the sky", several witnesses said yesterday.
"It was like a fire ball that traversed the sky", several witnesses said yesterday.
A cellphone report received on Saturday 01.12.08. Domingo Morales phoned Andrew Alvarez to make a report on sightings in the City of Ponce. Mr. Alvarez told him to phone me. Mr. Morales reported the following:
1. His brother, a resident of Valle Alta, Ponce, told him that on Friday, January 4 2008 at 9:30 p.m,., his wife called him over to look at a fireball over their house. Upon going outside , he saw an immense ball of red fire. The wife didn't see it approach, rather she saw it suddenly appear and light up on the spot. It remained static for some 20 minutes at an approximate altitude of 300 feet. It spent 20 minutes lighting on and off. The fireball finally diminished the intensity of its color and began moving SW in a zig-zag pattern, going up and down. It had the apparent size of a baseball stadium floodlight.
2. On Saturday January 5, 2008 at 9:40 p.m., Domingo's brother phoned again, this time to have Domingo climb onto the rooftop of his house to see if it was possible for him to see the fireball, as he (the brother) was seeing it. Domingo lives in Los Caobos, but was unable to see the object from his home. According to Domingo's brother, the fireball was over the same site, above his house and exhibiting the same behavior.
1. His brother, a resident of Valle Alta, Ponce, told him that on Friday, January 4 2008 at 9:30 p.m,., his wife called him over to look at a fireball over their house. Upon going outside , he saw an immense ball of red fire. The wife didn't see it approach, rather she saw it suddenly appear and light up on the spot. It remained static for some 20 minutes at an approximate altitude of 300 feet. It spent 20 minutes lighting on and off. The fireball finally diminished the intensity of its color and began moving SW in a zig-zag pattern, going up and down. It had the apparent size of a baseball stadium floodlight.
2. On Saturday January 5, 2008 at 9:40 p.m., Domingo's brother phoned again, this time to have Domingo climb onto the rooftop of his house to see if it was possible for him to see the fireball, as he (the brother) was seeing it. Domingo lives in Los Caobos, but was unable to see the object from his home. According to Domingo's brother, the fireball was over the same site, above his house and exhibiting the same behavior.
Law enforcement agencies in our area are still trying to figure out what folks saw streaking low across the evening sky in East Montgomery.
The mystery surrounding what Spruce Grove residents believe was a meteorite that hit an area pond last week began to unravel yesterday.
An eyewitness came forward to say he had seen a fireball shoot down from the sky.
"I first thought it was a shooting star, but it wasn't burning out," said Eric Whyte, who was driving southbound on Highway 2 between St. Albert and Morinville around 10 p.m. Thursday.
"It was a big ball of fire, bright orangey in colour, and there was a big tail behind it," he recalled.
An eyewitness came forward to say he had seen a fireball shoot down from the sky.
"I first thought it was a shooting star, but it wasn't burning out," said Eric Whyte, who was driving southbound on Highway 2 between St. Albert and Morinville around 10 p.m. Thursday.
"It was a big ball of fire, bright orangey in colour, and there was a big tail behind it," he recalled.
Spruce Grove residents woke up yesterday to a mysterious octopus-shaped hole in a frozen golf-course pond.
A hole about 1.5 metres in diameter was visible yesterday on the pond at The Links at Spruce Grove, along with at least 20 splash marks - the longest about six metres.
A hole about 1.5 metres in diameter was visible yesterday on the pond at The Links at Spruce Grove, along with at least 20 splash marks - the longest about six metres.
Comment: Sounds like maybe there were two of these fireballs in France that day, not just one, given the differences in the reports.
Update March 2008
Another fireball over France was captured on camera: