Fire in the SkyS


Fireball 2

Days notice: Another newly discovered asteroid to buzz Earth this weekend


The Extinction Protocol
Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:22 UTC
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A newly discovered asteroid the size of a football field will cruise through Earth's neighborhood this weekend, just days after another space rock made an even closer approach to our planet. The 330-foot-wide (100 meters) asteroid 2013 ET will miss Earth by 600,000 miles (960,000 kilometers) when it zips by on Saturday. The space rock flyby will come just days after the 33-foot (10 m) asteroid 2013 EC approached within 230,000 miles (370,000 km) of us early Monday. When asteroid 2013 ET passes Earth, it will be at a range equivalent to 2.5 times the distance between the planet and the moon, making it too faint and far away for most stargazers to spot in the night sky.

But the Virtual Telescope Project in Italy, run by astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, will webcast a live telescope view of the space rock's flyby on Friday, beginning at 2 p.m. EST. There is no danger that 2013 ET will hit Earth, researchers say, just as 2013 EC posed no threat. But their flybys are slightly unsettling nonetheless, since both asteroids were discovered mere days ago. Indeed, many space rocks are hurtling undetected through Earth's neck of the cosmic woods. Astronomers estimate that the number of near-Earth asteroids tops 1 million, but just 9,700 have been discovered to date. Undetected objects can strike Earth without warning, as the surprise meteor explosion over Russia last month illustrated. The 55-foot (17 m) asteroid that caused the Feb. 15 Russian fireball detonated in the atmosphere before astronomers even knew it existed.
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Fireball 4

'Livestock stampede, cows produce sour milk' - 1886 Colorado meteorite leaves 5 foot crater

Willa Kane, Frontier Historical Society
Post Independent
Wed, 06 Mar 2013 09:19 UTC
On almost any fine night, after a short watch of the heavens, we may see the well-known appearance of "shooting stars." At ordinary times these are small, are far between, and occur indifferently in all parts of the heavens; but on certain nights they show themselves in great number, and of such brilliancy as to present a spectacle of much magnificence.

- Rocky Mountain Sun, Aspen, Colorado, Sept. 30, 1882
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© Frontier Historical SocietyA meteorite was discovered by two men in the 1940s outside of Rifle. The meteor, primarily composed of iron, is officially listed in the Catalogue of Meteorites.
Meteors and all matters related to astronomy fascinated people living in the Victorian era. The darkness of communities along with people's attunement to their natural surroundings made the sightings of meteors a common occurrence. Many of the magnificent sightings made their way into print, and with possibly exaggerated details.

A meteor streaked across Aspen's night sky in early November 1886. The trail of fire along its decent from the southwest over Aspen Mountain to the head of Hunter Creek caught the notice of grocer and Aspen Mayor, Bob Hardeman. The next morning Hardeman and a friend proceeded to Hunter Creek and along the way gathered accounts from others reporting a whizzing sound and the meteor's fearful velocity, which caused livestock in fields to stampede and cows the next morning to produce sour milk.

Seven miles up Hunter Creek Hardeman found a grove of timber on fire leading to a five foot deep crater containing the still hot meteorite. Extracting the meteorite with a shovel, the party dragged the 20 pound object into the creek to cool it. The Rocky Mountain Sun reported the submersion of the meteorite into Hunter Creek proved fatal to "hundreds of trout." The newspaper also reported that Mr. Hardeman "brought several of those fish to town and had them cooked and vouches for them being quite palatable with the exception of a faint taste of brimstone, which could not be eradicated without a plentiful supply of salt." Undoubtedly, the meteor's display in Hardeman's store brought attention to his establishment and an increase in business.

Comment: For more information about what might be coming down the pike in the near future read: Comets and the Horns of Moses by Laura Knight-Jadczyk

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Fireball 2

Russian meteor spurs memories of Western Pennsylvania 'huge fireball' incident in 1938 - "would have destroyed much of nearby Pittsburgh and resulted in very few survivors"


triblive.com
Sun, 17 Feb 2013 09:08 UTC
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Chicora, PA (US) - Russia's "big bang" meteor on Friday morning caused a light burst big enough to blaze up the sky and a noise boom loud enough to shatter windows and damage buildings. While Western Pennsylvania falls into the rest of the northeastern United States as witness to periodic meteor showers and occasional one-shot spectacular celestial events, the last one that really perked up the public was nearby in Chicora, Butler County.


Comment: 'One shot spectacular celestial events'? Think again: For more information about what might be coming down the pike in the near future read: Comets and the Horns of Moses by Laura Knight-Jadczyk


About 6 p.m. June 24, 1938, a huge fireball exploded over the small borough of Chicora. At first, the commotion was thought to have been caused by an explosion in a nearby building used to store gunpowder. Gathering outside their homes, citizens soon learned the spectacular sound-and-light show was caused by a meteor streaking across the early evening sky. Written accounts noted witnesses said it "sounded like thunder" and a sharp spike of light like a fireball exploding was enveloped in what looked like a huge cloud.

While there were no injuries reported, one cow at a Chicora farm was reputedly killed by a small stone pellet, perhaps part of a larger meteorite. Another anecdote suggests only the "cow's hide was injured."

Later scientific studies would show that estimates based on the meteor trajectory and its trail of smoke showed the meteor weighed about 625 tons before it entered the Earth's atmosphere. It exploded about 12 miles above the Earth's surface. Had it progressed closer to Earth before exploding, note the studies, it would have destroyed much of nearby Pittsburgh and resulted in very few survivors.
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Fireball 4

Bright green fireball explodes over Poland, resulting in shockwave and 'mighty roar'

Translated by SOTT.net
Gazeta.pl
Mon, 04 Mar 2013 08:25 UTC
green fireball
© Unknown
Last Saturday night (2/3 March), a bright object flying toward the earth was seen in various parts of the country. "It was seen from the city of Poznan to Grudziadz. It lit up the sky for a few seconds from east to west, and then an impact was heard", wrote a reader of Alert24.pl. "The passage of an NEO [Near Earth Object] is not uncommon", explains Jerzy Rafalski, an astronomer from Torun in an interview with Radio RMF FM.


Comment: No, it's not; it has become frighteningly common in the last couple of years:

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© SOTT.netSource data available here: www.amsmeteors.org/fireball_event/2012/

Comment: Clearly Mr Rafalski doesn't have a clue what he is talking about! "Oh nothing to see here folks, cloudless nights sort of 'lend themselves' to bright green fireballs exploding..."

Two fireballs on two successive nights over the same country, one of which sounds like it produced a shockwave that was felt on the ground... things are heating up fast!

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Fireball 5

Probable fireball sparks ground fire in Tasmania


ABC News, Australia
Sat, 02 Mar 2013 21:37 UTC
Mystery Fire
© ABC News/Fiona BlackwoodA burnt circle of grass where a bright light reportedly fell from the sky and started a small fire.
Tasmanian police and firefighters are unable to explain the source of a beam of light which reportedly fell from the sky and formed a circle of fire in a Hobart suburb.

Early yesterday morning police and fire crews received calls from concerned residents in Carnegie Street at Claremont, who reported seeing a bright light igniting a fire in a nearby paddock.

Tasmania Fire Service officer Scott Vinen says the blaze was quickly put out, leaving an obvious burnt patch.

He says the bizarre incident has everyone baffled.

"Once we put the fire out, we kind of walked through the fire and tried to find something," he said.

"We thought a flare or something may have landed there, but we couldn't find any cause."

The Fire Service says it will not investigate further.
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Fireball 5

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

Brent Watts
WDBJ7
Fri, 01 Mar 2013 09:18 UTC
Fireball Reports
© American Meteor Society (March 1, 2013)Numerous reports of a fireball Thursday night.
WDBJ7 has gotten several reports through social media of people seeing a fireball shoot across the sky Thursday night.

We have checked into the reports and found that the object, likely a meteorite, was visible from Virginia to North Carolina.

Mena Hobs saw it and posted this on the WDBJ7 Facebook page.

"Last night around 9:41 pm a huge ball of orange light in the sky. You could see it beyond Roanoke Electric Steel. It dropped below the horizon and appeared again briefly."

More than a dozen shared their story on the American Meteor Society website. The website tracks and archives fireball reports from around the country.

Meteors and fireballs are very common, and fall even during the day.

The term meteor actually refers to the streak of light caused by a piece of space debris burning up in the atmosphere. The pieces of debris are called meteoroids, and remnants of debris that reach the surface are called meteorites.

Comment: Sure is getting crowded out there folks...

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

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Fireball 4

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


FOX44
Thu, 21 Feb 2013 04:50 UTC
Another 'mystery boom' in the sky, this time over Vermont. The military claimed responsibility, but locals don't seem too convinced.

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    Fireball 3

    Man catches meteor on camera in Texas

    Mary Lee
    KSDK
    Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:14 UTC

    Surfside, Texas - Texans in the Houston area noticed a fiery glow light up the sky Wednesday morning.

    Captain William Lowery was on his boat in the Freeport area when he saw a meteor fly across the sky in a brilliant orange flash around 3 a.m.

    "Nothing like that magnitude," said Lowery. "I've seen shooting stars, but this lasted three to four minutes."

    After the Russian meteor exploded across the sky, it prompted scientists to better identify large meteor and asteroid threats.

    Source: KPRC/NBC
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    Fireball

    Mysterious loud boom heard and felt all over Tucson

    Dan Marries
    Tuscon News Now
    Thu, 28 Feb 2013 06:56 UTC

    Tucson, Arizona - Something caused some shaking, rattling, and rolling over many parts of Tucson Wednesday night. It happened about 7:45 p.m.

    Tucson News Now was inundated with calls from people asking what it was. We made calls to several law enforcement agencies and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. D-M says it was not one of their aircraft that caused a sonic boom.

    Capt. Adam Goldberg from Northwest Fire District says all the area fire departments received about 100 calls. The Tucson Fire Department says most of their calls came from the west side of Tucson.

    Tom Peine with the Pima County Sheriff's Department tweeted, "We checked with variety of places to include mines, DMAFB, Pinal Army Nat. Guard, TIA, SW Gas, El Paso Gas, TEP/So far all negative."
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    Fireball 4

    'Mystery boom' over Charleston, West Virginia probably yet another overhead explosion


    Charleston Daily Mail
    Tue, 26 Feb 2013 11:30 UTC
    Kanawha emergency dispatchers were fielding dozens of Tuesday after a loud boom rocked several homes in Charleston and eastern Kanawha County.

    Dispatchers began receiving calls a little before 5:30 p.m. from concerned residents wondering about the sound.

    People in the Ariel Heights and Falling Run Road areas, both near Oakridge Drive, told dispatchers they heard a loud booming noise and felt their homes shake. Dispatchers said those callers reported their power still was on and they had not seen any smoke.

    Callers reported hearing the sound on Garrison Avenue and feeling it in Fort Hill. Dispatchers said calls came in from all over the county but no one had been able to pinpoint where the noise came from or what caused it.

    Dispatchers said first responders were on the lookout for anything that could have caused the noise but the source remained unknown.

    A meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Charleston said there was a "zero percent" chance the sound was thunder and that the office had not received any reports of any possible earthquake.
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