Fire in the SkyS


Fireball 5

Bright meteor lights up Eastern coast of Australia


Toowoomba Chronicle, Australia
Thu, 13 Jun 2013 19:46 UTC
Fireball
© NASA A meteorite may have been spotted crashing to earth this evening.
There have been multiple reports of a bright burning light in the sky over Toowoomba and the Darling Downs last night.

Witnesses reported seeing a bright white ball falling to earth about 6pm. It is understood the object may have been a meteor or space junk.

Several people contacted The Chronicle this morning to report the sighting.

On Facebook, witnesses spoke of a "spectacular" light display that at first appeared to be a shooting star.
  • Shallon Garton: "I saw what I thought was a shooting star but way bigger driving back to Highfields from Esk."
  • Stuart Shields: "Yes, saw it on my way home from Highfields last night was pretty spectacular."
  • Christine Walker: "We saw it here in the Lockyer Valley just after dark. No time to grab the camera though"
There have also been reports of a bright light or flashes over the Sunshine Coast and the mid north NSW coast.
Read More...
Question

Early-morning mystery boom heard in some West Seattle neighborhoods


West Seattle Blog
Sat, 08 Jun 2013 08:55 UTC
Just in case you came here looking for information about an explosion-type sound around 2:45 am - this morning we have received several e-mails asking about it, describing it as loud enough to wake them up and scare their pets.

So far, checking fire and police logs, we haven't found anything confirming what it was.

Those who say they heard it are in Gatewood, Lincoln Park, and Lowman Beach areas, but at least one person thinks it could have happened some distance away, to the east. We were on watch at that time, and though we're over south Lincoln Park, we didn't hear it.

So we're posting this in hopes someone out there might have direct knowledge to solve the mystery.
Read More...
Question

Mystery boom shakes residents of Sharon, Pennsylvania

Melissa Klaric
The Herald
Sun, 26 May 2013 18:24 UTC
Mercer County - Memorial Day weekend started out "relatively quiet" for police, except for another mysterious "sonic boom."

At 7:29 p.m. Friday, the explosion rocked Shenango Township. A resident in the 3500 block of Hubbard-West Middlesex Road heard "a loud sonic boom," a Mercer County 911 dispatcher said. The caller told the 911 operator "it shook the house; it was not like a transformer blew.

"All of the neighbors came outside to see what happened, so many people felt it."

Southwest Mercer County Regional police were dispatched, but could not find anything.

It was the second such incident reported in as many weeks. On May 13, dozens of callers from Mercer to Sandy Lake to Grove City reported hearing a "massive explosion" at about 9 p.m. Officials have not been able to explain the noise.

The 911 dispatcher said "typical holiday weekend" calls were from all over Mercer County. Early Friday, an alleged "streaker" shocked some callers from Sharon. Later Friday, a reported gas leak near Lake Latonka was cleared up by 11:45 p.m.

At about 5 p.m. Saturday, a kid in a "black hoodie" gave Sharon police a run for their money over "some minor crime."

A couple of hours later, there was a report of a burglary on Tamarack Drive in South Pymatuning Township. About 8 p.m., police in Hermitage responded to a hit-and-run accident with no apparent injuries.
Read More...
Meteor

A plane mystery: Passenger jet makes emergency landing after being hit by unidentified 'foreign object' at 26,000 feet


The Independent
Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:54 UTC
Image
© UnknownA passenger jet has been forced to make an emergency landing after an unidentified “foreign object” smashed into its nose cone at 26,000 feet
A passenger jet has been forced to make an emergency landing, after an unidentified "foreign object" smashed into its nose cone at 26,000 feet.

A large dent and scraped paintwork was visible on the Air China Boeing 757 after it landed safely at Chengdu Airport, having been forced to turn back after the pilot said he was struggling to control the plane.

Click here for more images of the damaged aircraft

Investigators are said to be baffled by the dent, reportedly ruling out a bird strike as no blood or feathers were seen around the impact site, but insisting traces of whatever caused the damage are likely to be found under closer inspection.

The plane was flying at around 26,000 feet, climbing over China 20 minutes after take-off during an internal flight between Chengdu and Guangzhou, when passengers are said to have heard a loud bang.
Image
© UnknownA large dent and scraped paintwork was visible on the Air China Boeing 757 after it landed safely at Chengdu Airport
At the time the pilot is thought to have been unaware of the damage, but contacted air traffic control to report stability issues shortly after hearing the noise.

He was instructed to return to Chengdu, where the damaged nosecone was seen and photographed by passengers disembarking the aircraft.

Comment: No mystery here. Just go over articles in the Fire in the Sky category to get an idea.

Read More...
Fireball 4

Rare meteor shower may 'outburst' on June 11

Bob King
Universe Today
Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:55 UTC
Rare Meteor Shower_1
© StellariumThe rare and rarely heard of meteor shower called the Gamma Delphinids will appear to radiate from the constellation Delphinus (del-FINE-us) the Dolphin high in the southern sky shortly before dawn tomorrow morning June 11. This map shows the sky facing south at 3:30 a.m. local time. Delphinus is near the bottom of the bright 3-star figure the Summer Triangle.
Back on June 11, 1930 three members of the American Meteor Society (AMS) in Maryland saw a half-hour-long bright outburst of meteors from the little constellation Delphinus the Dolphin. No one had predicted the shower, but it came out of nowhere and hasn't been seen since. Attempts to catch a repeat performance in subsequent years met with no success.

That may change tomorrow morning, June 11, 2013. Peter Jenniskins, research scientist with the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center, has examined dust outbursts from long-period comets and suggests the Gamma Delphinids may return for a brief moment of splendor, as Earth passes through this stream of cometary debris not seen since 1930.
Read More...
Meteor

Northampton 'explosions' treated as unexplained


BBC News
Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:50 UTC
Image
© GoogleThe fire service attended a report of an "explosion" in Castle Street
Three "explosions" heard in the early hours of the morning in Northampton are being treated as unexplained.

Northamptonshire Fire Service investigated the separate reports in St Mary's Street, Castle Street and Silver Street but "didn't find anything".

Andy Gineikis, who lives nearby, said he heard a "loud bang" similar to a shotgun blast at about 03:30 BST.

Western Power Distribution said there had been a power cut in the Abington area of Northampton at about 04:40.
Read More...
Fireball 4

Did you hear a big boom in the area of Smyrna, Tennessee Monday night?


WGNS
Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:30 UTC
WGNS has received multiple phone calls and emails from residents in the area of Smyrna telling us that they heard a loud "BOOM" sound Monday night. The sound was heard around 8:30 in the evening.

WGNS checked with the Smyrna Police Department where we talked to Police Chief Kevin Arnold. Arnold told us, "We received several complaints last night about that. The Sheriff's Office also received complaints. From the log this morning it appears nothing was found."

We then headed to the Smyrna / Rutherford County Airport. There, we were told that no "BOOM" sounds involving airplanes were reported on Monday night. Several workers there told us they did not hear the "BOOM."

So that leaves us with the big question... What was that big "BOOM" sound that was heard Monday? It seems as if we cannot find the answer to that mystery.
Read More...
Fireball 4

Fireball over Taiwan, 31 May 2013

AvellSky
Twitter
Fri, 31 May 2013 20:00 UTC
Read More...
Fireball 5

Meteor spotted over Florence, South Carolina

Melissa Stewart
Cincinnati.com
Fri, 31 May 2013 00:25 UTC
Florence - If you saw what is described as a "fireball" around 11:05 p.m. last night, you were not alone.

The Recorder received a report about a meteor flying over Florence last night. According to the American Meteor Society, more than 50 witnesses reported a large fireball meteor over Ohio May 30.

The fireball was seen primarily from Ohio and Indiana, but witnesses from Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina also made reports.

The society has developed technology that can plot the path of any fireball reported to their system. According to amsmeteors.org, the accuracy of these paths is dependent on the number of witnesses who report the event and their distribution around the fireball.

This particular event provided a large volume and good geographic distribution of witnesses.

The society urges witnesses of the fireball to fill out an official report with them. Visit their website to do so.
Read More...
Fireball 4

Extremely large meteor lights up skies over Finland, booms heard


Sott.net
Thu, 30 May 2013 02:06 UTC
Finland Fireball
© Aki Taavitsainen The fireball was captured by a photographer in Mikkeli, eastern Finland.
An unusual light and sound phenomenon that was sighted in Finnish skies in early May has been confirmed as a fireball, in other words a very bright meteor. The light was seen on May 8th in parts of southern and central Finland.

The Ursa Astronomical Association confirmed that a bright light and loud boom seen and heard by almost 300 Finnish citizens on May 8th was a meteor. The space rock was estimated to be about half a metre long and weighing 50 kilos.
Read More...