Fire in the SkyS


Fireball 4

Fireball lights up Eastern Seaboard from North Carolina to Florida, 16 March 2013

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© lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com/google earth
Initial Meteor Sighting Reports

16 March 2013 - Dan Gordon, Cameron, North Carolina 21:00
5 seconds duration. South to Northwest direction. Very large and very bright through cloud haze. As bright as the moon.
16 March 2013 - Shawn Hanna, Goose Creek, South Carolina, USA 20:55 EST
2 seconds duration. East-West direction. White then Orange color at dissipation. Very bright white initially - like a large star. I was traveling North-Northwest and it came across from the East, falling at about a 45 degree angle.
16 March 2013 - KRStanley, Rock Hill, South Carolina 20:50
4 seconds duration. It was directly overhead. I was walking north. It had a very bright sphere with a tail. Colors of reds and blues. As bright as the moon. It was very bright in the sky and disappeared just above the horizon.

Fireball 4

Spectacular meteor lights up night sky in England, 14 March 2013

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© lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com/google earth
Initial meteor sighting reports

14 March 2013 - Adam Copland, Whitwood, Castleford, England 21:35 GMT
13 seconds duration. It went from my left to right. It was bright white, same brightness as a lightbulb with no casing. I was sat at my desk when something caught my eye out of the window. I rushed to the window and saw what I believe a meteor flying through the sky.
14 March 2013 - Johnnie, Islington, Exeter, United Kingdom 21:31 GMT
1second duration. North-Northwest direction. Green/orange ball with long blue tail. Brighter than the moon, but smaller No fragmention, but it was stunning and instantaneous. My son & I saw it. It was fast. Wow.
14 March 2013 - Andy Bedford, England 21:30
1 second duration. N-S direction, I was west facing. Green colour. As bright as Venus. It appeared to break up before losing brightness. It was quite spectacular, I hope others saw it!!

Fireball 2

Large bright fireball fragments over Northeastern US, 14 March 2013 - second celestial event in region this week

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© lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com/google earth
Initial Fireball Sighting Reports

14 March 2013 - Evelin Perez, Somerville, New Jersey, USA 19:50
3-4 seconds duration. North, from right to left. Blue, white, yellow colors. Very bright, big fireball.
14 March 2013 - Brenda Grant, Lowell, Massachusetts 7:49pm
5-10 seconds duration. North direction. White colour, as bright as the sun. Very bright and white in color, I saw it a little above the horizon.
14 March 2013 - Ala., Glenwood, New Jersey 19:45
4 to 5 seconds duration. East direction. White color, as bright as the moon! Yes, I saw fragmentation, biggest meteor ever!

Comment: It could have been the same event as this one:

Mysterious boom shakes houses across Rhode Island

According to reports collected by SOTT.net, this is the 6th or 7th celestial event over the Northeastern U.S. in the past 4 weeks alone!

Fireball breaks up over Northeastern U.S., 11 March 2013

Fireball spotted over Roanoke, Virginia Thursday night: Second fireball sighting over state in just five days

100 people report 'fireball' streaking across the Virginia sky Sunday night

Probable overhead meteor explosion in Bradford, Vermont, 21 February 2013 - Air National Guard claims responsibility

North Carolina and Virginia fireball, 27 February 2013

Early morning meteor blazes over Maine, Maryland and Massachusetts, 21 February 2013


Fireball 5

Update 2! Second 'ice crater' found in central Newfoundland - both probably result of meteorites from overhead cometary explosion

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© Peter ButlerA strange ice formation spotted by Peter Butler at Powderhorn Lake near Badger.
A cabin owner on another lake near Badger says he has also seen a large hole and unusual ice formations similar to a mysterious crater discovered on Dawe's Lake about six kilometres away.

Peter Butler said he was leaving his cabin on Powderhorn Lake on Sunday evening when he noticed a strange shape in the centre on the ice on the pond.

"It does appear that something punctured the ice and caused waves to form and travel over the ice," said Butler.

Butler said the hole was circular and about 30 metres across. He said water had seeped through the hole and frozen over, covering the initial hole with a thin layer of ice, water, and small fragments of ice. Butler also noticed ripples in the ice along the edge of the hole.


Comment: Sure, we'd all like peace of mind, but we're not going to get it if we exclude the flaming obvious from our investigations. Peter Butler's observation fits well with that of a woman who saw "two dark objects with smoky trails" fall out of a clear sky over Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland at around 7:40 on Sunday evening. It seems that one of these space rocks hit Dawe's Lake, while the other one hit Powderhorn Lake. Between the flash of light, the loud boom, eyewitness sightings and identical descriptions of the 'ice crater' formations, it appears that at least two meteorites survived the fragmentation that followed an overhead explosion somewhere above Newfoundland on March 10th, 2013.

See also:

Large hole in Dawe's Lake, Newfoundland discovered following 'sonic boom'

Update! Witness saw two objects 'with smoke coming from them' fall out of sky near ice crater impact in Newfoundland - man-made 'space junk' ruled out


Question

Mysterious boom shakes houses across Rhode Island

Mystery Boom
© TivertonPatch.com
A number of Little Compton, Tiverton and Wesport residents reported hearing - and feeling - a loud mysterious boom at about 8:40 p.m. on Wednesday.

Little Compton Police Chief Sidney Wordell received two 911 calls about the mystery boom.

"We did receive a couple of calls last night and and we checked in with Westport and Tiverton as well," said Wordell. "They had similar reports as they received a couple of calls as well."

Wordell noted that neither Little Compton or its neighboring police departments received any reports of explosions, and callers who experienced the mysterious boom also noted a lack of noise associated with the brief shaking feeling.

"We were sitting there watching TV and it felt like a full size tree landed right outside the window." said Chris S. Pinkerton, who lives in north Little Compton by the Stone Church. "It was one big boom, there wasn't any noise, but the entire house shook."

At first, Pinkerton and his wife speculated the wind was to blame - that was until a friend who lives five miles away near the Little Compton Commons posted a message on Facebook. She too was wondering what just caused her house to shake.

Fireball 5

Update! Witness saw two objects 'with smoke coming from them' fall out of sky near 'ice crater' site in Newfoundland

Amateur Astronomer Jim Gillard of the Twillingate Observatory says whatever may have fallen into a pond near Badger wasn't a bird or a plane but it wasn't space junk either. VOCM's Renell LeGrow explains.

Dawe's Pond has certainly been the topic of conversation for many here in central this week - on Monday, Gillard made the trek west of Badger after reports that something struck the frozen pond with force, driving water up through the ice, freezing again in an odd ripple effect. Something certainly out of the ordinary, Gillard says, but today, he's confident in saying it was a natural occurrence.

Gillard says at 3:00 this morning, he left Twillingate and headed again to the area - this time to check out reports of two other similar discoveries on two other ponds, close in proximity to Dawe's Pond. Since Monday, enough slush has melted for a closer examination, and now he says cracks in the ice seem very natural and common. He says had it been a meteor, there would have been particles left behind. It's all still puzzling, and he has no idea what happened, but he says it's safe to rule out anything that might have dropped from outer space.

Comment: Witnesses reported seeing objects with smoke coming from them falling down from the sky AND hearing a 'sonic boom' AND another hole in the ice was found 6kms away. This suggests that the two objects were fragments propelled earthwards following an overhead explosion from an incoming meteor or cometary fragment, just as we saw in Russia in mid-February.


Fireball 4

Bright green fireball illuminates night sky above San Diego, California, 12 March 2013

12 March 2013 - Kyo, Eastlake, California, USA 21:20 Pacific Time
4 seconds duration. Right to left, I was facing East. Blue tail then color disappeared. As bright as the moon, it was quite big and easy to see.
12 March 2013 - Jerome Jarvis, Oceanside, CA, USA ~21:10 PDT
What I saw lasted about 4-5 seconds. I was facing East; it travelled North. Extremely bright white in color, changing to intense bright green just prior to exploding. No sound heard. It was far brighter than Venus. No fragmentation visible until explosion... it was very brief.
12 March 2013 - Khaylee, San Diego, CA 9:15 PM Pacific Time Zone
15-20 seconds duration. North to NW direction, I was facing SE. Bright green in color. Brightness of the moon, it was solid sphere shaped, with a slight trail. Only one fragmentation event occurred. It was following nothing and was followed by nothing.

Fireball 2

Best of the Web: We live in a cosmic shooting gallery


In this new video from Big Think, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson says he's almost embarrassed for our species that it takes a warning shot across our bow before legislators take seriously the warning they've been getting from astronomers that its a matter of when not if Earth will get smacked by an asteroid.

"But it took an actual meteor over Russia exploding with 25 times the power of the atom bomb in Hiroshima to convince people that maybe we should start doing something about it."

Comment: We understand his frustration! SOTT.net has been warning people about this for years. The latest research indicates that it's not the multi-million-year larger space rocks that we need to be concerned about, but the swarms of smaller objects that wreak havoc on human civilizations far more often than people realise...

Celestial Intentions: Comets and the Horns of Moses


Fireball 4

Green fireball 'with long tail' breaks apart over Hawaii, appeares to fall into ocean, 11 March 2013

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© 2013 LunarMeteoriteHunter / Google Earth
Initial Sighting Reports

11 March 2013 - Antony Clarke, Pahoa, Hawaii, 6:30 am LST
3-4 seconds duration. Traveled NE to SW. We were facing NW. Bright green, very bright, brighter than Venus. Broke into 2-3 pieces before reaching surface. Upper track obscured by cloud so only lower part of track visible. Apparent angle of descent was about 45 degrees.
11 March 2013 - Dennis, Kona, Hawaii, 06:14
7 seconds duration. NE-SW direction, I was facing West. It was a large green ball with a white center and a green tail. Brighter than the Moon, less than the sun. It seemed to fall into the ocean. Sky was still dark.

Fireball 3

Daytime fireball explodes over South Africa, leaves smoky trail, 12 March 2013

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© LunarMeteoriteHunter / Google EarthSouth Africa Bolide, 12 MAR 2013
Initial Sighting Reports

12 March 2013 - Hein Maij, Tulbagh, Western Cape, South Africa 12h30
5 seconds duration. East-West direction, I was facing South. Bright white light then explosion. Very white bright color.
12 March 2013 - Danni, Cape Town, SA 12:30
3-5 seconds duration. North-South direction. As bright as the Sun, it was white. It was burning and shooting down.
12 March 2013 - Leon Coetzee, Cape Town, SA 12:45
5 seconds duration. Southwest. Brilliant white colour, the whitest white, like a spot light. Part seemed to fall off. Very big white ball with long white tail. It looked like it was about 10 to 15 km away. Then an explosion, no more light just a huge ball of smoke. Most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life. Very exited. Don't know why it wasn't on the news. Didn't anybody else see it?????????