M.K. Guetersloh
PantagraphThu, 05 Apr 2007 09:44 UTC
The chunk of metal that crashed though a Bloomington couple's home last month was not a meteorite but something man-made.
But Robert "Skip" Nelson, a professor of geology at Illinois State University, said the theory may be just as unique as he pieces together how the piece of metal made its way March 5 into David and Dee Riddle's house at Partner Place.
Nelson said the metal object appears to have been ejected from a wood grinder from Twin City Wood Recycling. "That's almost as amazing as it being a meteorite," Nelson said.
The metal object is about the size of a deck of cards and weighs nearly a pound. Because of its weight and the steep angle with which it hit the house, Nelson initially thought it could have been a meteorite.
The story "Unknown Satellite Like" which we published on March 26 was initially received from interviews and coverage done by Mogadishu radio stations. At the time of the incident many people in the area talked as if they saw the peculiar object. After many SomaliNet news readers contacted us about the article, we decided to investigate more and tried to verify the validity of this strange story.
According to reporters who went to the area, so far no single person who saw the object could be found. Although everyone believes the story is true, they all gave the same answer: I didn't see it with my eyes but...
A meteor shower is believed to be responsible for a light show over Auckland's Waitemata Harbour this morning.
Comment: They are starting to come fast and furious now!
Heads up!
Local time approximately 6:AM
Approach Direction: from south
Departure Direction: to north
Witness Direction: north
Description: I spotted in a split second a long tail of tan colored light burning about a football field in length that suddenly vanished. It moved faster than any jet I know of. It very well could have been something entering Earth's atmosphere.
XinhuaThu, 29 Mar 2007 10:26 UTC
PANAMA CITY - Panamanian geologists have found an meteorite at Rio Hato, a coastal town west of the capital Panama City.
New Delhi - Civil Aviation authorities are baffled by reports from at least 10 aircraft overflying India that they had seen a "ball of fire" in the air, about 300 nautical miles south west of Delhi, which is somewhere over Gujarat.
Sources have told The Sunday Express that all reports came in almost simultaneously, around 1.45 am this morning, and the matter is being investigated.
The description used by pilots, according to their reports, was that it appeared like a "ball of fire, orange in colour and scattered". One pilot, in fact, said it looked like a "meteor shower".
At first, alarmed officials checked whether any aircraft had gone missing or if there was any other disaster in the area. But all this was ruled out by afternoon.
A Chilean jetliner approaching New Zealand came within 20 seconds of being hit by blazing objects hurtling down to Earth, New Zealand aviation officials say.
US space officials said today it was most likely a close encounter with a disintegrating meteor, denying assertions from New Zealand officials that the LAN Chile plane narrowly missed being blasted by Russian space debris that was returning to Earth ahead of schedule.
The world's press was quick to spread the news that pieces of space junk from a falling Russian satellite narrowly missed hitting a LAN Chile jetliner over the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday night. But several experts are now questioning the likelihood of the claims.
According to media reports, the LAN Airbus A340 was traveling between Santiago and Auckland, New Zealand. The pilot notified air traffic controllers at the Auckland Flight Center after seeing flaming, incandescent fragments of the satellite flying through the sky eight kilometers in front of the aircraft. He described seeing pieces of debris lighting up as they re-entered the earth's atmosphere.
According to a plane spotter, who was tuning into a high frequency radio broadcast at the time, the pilot "reported that the rumbling noise from the space debris could be heard over the noise of the aircraft." The plane spotter also heard air traffic control in Auckland warning the pilot of an Aerolineas Argentinas flight, traveling in the opposite direction ten degrees further south. The pilot chose to carry on rather than turn back to New Zealand.
TV3Thu, 29 Mar 2007 04:26 UTC
NASA says the flaming objects which came close to hitting an airliner heading to New Zealand could be meteors, and not Russian space junk.
The objects fell ahead of and behind a Chilean airliner flying over the Pacific between Santiago and Auckland on Tuesday night.
A chief NASA scientist checked with the Russians, who say they fired rockets on their space junk after the airline reported the near-miss.
Comment: Can we call 'em or what?
NASA has discounted claims Russian space junk was responsible for a near-miss over the Pacific.
The pilot of a Chilean jet bound for Auckland reported seeing fiery debris falling near his plane on Tuesday night.
There is speculation it was an unmanned Russian cargo craft returning to Earth after resupplying the International Space Station.
Comment: They are starting to come fast and furious now!
Heads up!