Fire in the SkyS


Fireball 2

'Frost-quakes' or overhead meteor explosions? Massive boom shakes houses in Toronto


RT
Mon, 06 Jan 2014 10:29 UTC
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As temperatures around Toronto and across Ontario drop to -20 Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit), residents are reporting frost quakes that are powerful enough to shake houses and rattle nerves.

Usually found in extreme polar regions, the recent outbreak of frost quakes, known to meteorologists as cryoseisms, are now affecting many residents of Toronto, Canada's most populous city.

The weather-related phenomenon, which can feel like an earthquake, happens when water and moisture deep underground freeze as the temperature drops.

Frost quakes typically occur between midnight and dawn, the coldest part of the night, thus many residents are being jolted awake by the booming sounds.

Comment: So rare and yet, so commonly used of late to explain 'mystery booms' ...

SOTT.net sez 'BS alert!'

This is what cryoseisms sound like, nothing like a "sudden explosive sound that shook my whole house."

Given that fireballs are raining all over the place, isn't it far more likely these folks are hearing overhead meteor explosions?

Multiple fireballs: Over 1,400 reports in 48 hours from coast to coast; booms; ground shaking, house shaking explosion

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Fireball

Oh, puleeze..."We saw it coming - dinky asteroid hits Earth, burns up"

Ian O'Neill
Discovery News
Fri, 03 Jan 2014 15:01 UTC
Image
For only the second time in history, an asteroid has hit Earth that was discovered hours before impact. But don't panic! The asteroid didn't put a city-sized divot in our planet, it most likely burned up somewhere between Africa and South America over the Atlantic Ocean at midnight EST.

Asteroid 2014 AA, the first asteroid discovery of the year, was spotted by astronomers using the Mt. Lemmon Survey telescope in Arizona. As shrewdly pointed out by Bad Astronomer Phil Plait, the asteroid was the approximate size of a couch - measuring only a couple of meters across. That's around one-half of a Mini Cooper, whichever takes your fancy. But whatever your preferred size comparison, the outcome was likely the same; the asteroid burned up on atmospheric entry as a meteor.

This might have provided a nice visual spectacle only a day after New Years, but 2014 AA is notable as being the first pre-impact discovery of an asteroid since 2008.


Comment: Obviously this article is really trying hard to put forward a "nothing to worry about, go back to sleep" schtick - here's the real story: First observed 'Near Earth Object' this year, named asteroid '2014 AA', impacted planet several hours later!

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First observed 'Near Earth Object' this year, named asteroid '2014 AA', impacted planet several hours later!

Ernesto Guido
Remanzacco Observatory
Thu, 02 Jan 2014 12:03 UTC
M.P.E.C. 2014-A02 issued on 2014 Jan. 2 at 13:08 UT reports the discovery of the asteroid 2014 AA (discovery magnitude 19.1) by Mt. Lemmon Survey (MPC code G96 ) on images taken on January 1.2 with a 1.5-m reflector + CCD. 2014 AA had an estimated size of 1.7 m - 3.8 m (based on the object's absolute magnitude H=30.9).

As reported on this MPEC:
It is virtually certain that 2014 AA hit the Earth's atmosphere on 2014 Jan. 2.2 +/- 0.4, as demonstrated by independent calculations by Bill Gray, the MPC and Steve Chesley (JPL). According to Chesley, the impact locations are widely distributed, most likely falling on an arc extending from Central America to East Africa, with a best-fit location just off the coast of West Africa on Jan. 2.10. 2014 AA was unlikely to have survived atmospheric entry intact, as it was comparable in size to 2008 TC3, the only other example of an impacting object observed prior to atmospheric entry.
Below you can see one of the discovery images of 2014 AA. The asteroid is the streak just left of center, surrounded by the purple circle.
Asteroid 2014 AA
© Courtesy of Catalina Sky Survey / NASA
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A new major meteor shower in 2014? Earth might be sandblasted with debris from Comet 209P/LINEAR May 24, 2014

Deborah Byrd
EarthSky.org
Thu, 02 Jan 2014 08:25 UTC
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© Michael Jager Comet 209P/LINEAR on April 25, 2009 as captured by Michael Jager in Austria.
The list of major meteor showers hasn't changed much in recent decades, but it has changed a little. Meteor showers are part of nature, after all, and the list of major showers shifts and changes slightly, as all things in nature do, with one shower or another becoming more or less exciting as the years pass. In 2014, though, an exciting new meteor shower might come on the scene. This possible shower stems from a comet - Comet 209P/LINEAR - discovered in 2004. Comet 209P/LINEAR passed near the sun in 2009 and will pass near it again in early May, 2014. On the night of May 24, 2014 - if the predictions hold true - Earth might be sandblasted with debris from this comet, resulting in a fine display of meteors, or shooting stars.


Comment: Wondering what else the Earth may be 'sandblasted' with? Comets and the Horns of Moses

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Fireball 5

Explosive booming noises mystify Vermont residents

Jack Thurston
NECN
Tue, 31 Dec 2013 07:59 UTC
Strange booming noises were reported across the Champlain Valley Monday night, mystifying and even scaring Vermont residents who heard them.


"Extremely alarming," said Christy Morgan of Colchester, who told New England Cable News she heard a bizarre noise. "It was very violent and very intense, and only [lasted] a second."

Morgan said the sound terrified her because she thought it was an explosion. It struck around 7 p.m., Morgan said. "[It was] like somebody had pushed their refrigerator over onto its side and it was a violent crash and the whole house shook," she remembered.

Morgan said there was no sign anything had gone wrong in the house or outside of it. Others around the Champlain Valley reported hearing strange noises too; several took to social media sites to describe the noises that were puzzling them.

"They're called cryoseisms," said Larry Becker, Vermont's state geologist.

Comment: BS alert!

Image
This is what cryoseisms sound like, nothing like a "sudden explosive sound that shook my whole house."

Given that fireballs are raining all over the place, isn't it far more likely these folks are hearing overhead meteor explosions?

Multiple fireballs: Over 1,400 reports in 48 hours from coast to coast; booms; ground shaking, house shaking explosion

Read More...
Fireball 4

Multiple fireballs: Over 1,400 reports in 48 hours from coast to coast; booms; ground shaking, house shaking explosion

MrMBB333
You Tube
Sat, 28 Dec 2013 00:00 UTC
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Massive ground shaking meteor explodes over Minnesota. Daytime fireballs reported in Michigan, Missouri, Iowa, Indiana, Wyoming, Idaho, Kansas, California, Nevada and more.

Reports from the U.S. are coast to coast and other parts of the world.

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Fireball 5

Mysterious loud boom rattles, rolls most of Texas City


KRISTV.com
Mon, 30 Dec 2013 19:33 UTC
Loud Boom
© KRISTV.comStillshot from video below.
Corpus Christi - A loud boom Sunday evening sent many people out of their homes and sent emergency crews scouring the city for answers.

The city's 911 system was flooded with calls around 630PM from people all over town, who either heard the boom, or had their homes shake from the sound wave. Reports of the boom stretch from the Rodd Field and Yorktown area to downtown and many places in between.

But after an extensive search of the area, no evidence of an explosion or fire was ever found.

No one knows for sure where the boom came from or what caused it. It's quite possible that the sound might have been a sonic boom from a passing aircraft. An investigation is underway.
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Fireball 2

Huge fireball fragments over Iowa, seen across U.S. Midwest

Brent Matsalla
Guardian Liberty Voice
Sat, 28 Dec 2013 00:00 UTC
fireball iowa
A very huge fireball in the Iowa skies awed and amazed several witnesses in Des Moines and across the U.S. Midwest. There were hundreds of reports received by the American Meteor Society (AMS), of a bright ball of fire streaking across the night sky. Experts agree that is very likely a meteor entering and burning up in our atmosphere.

The AMS is a non-profit organization that collects information and reports on any possible meteor sightings. A total of 460 people filed reports with the AMS on the Iowa incident, mostly coming from the area around the Minnesota and Iowa border.

The massive fireball caught the attention of many Iowa residents and the event was even captured on a street camera in the City of North Liberty. According to the AMS, a very bright meteor is actually called a "fireball." The AMS defines a fireball as an object with about the same brightness as the planet Venus in the evening or early morning sky.

As soon as people witness the huge fireball, posts began appearing in social media feeds. People in Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana and Illinois also reported seeing the fireball in the sky. None of the witnesses reported hearing any sound neither before, during, nor after they saw the fireball streaking across the sky.

Comment: It was a meteor fireball, case closed!

A must-read to understand what's going on: Celestial Intentions: Comets and the Horns of Moses

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Fireball 5

Loud boom that shook the Brainerd lakes area, Minnesota seems consistent with meteor event


Minneapolis Star Tribune
Mon, 30 Dec 2013 11:19 UTC
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Still from security camera footage of the fireball meteor seen across the Midwest last Friday 27 December, 2013.
Residents in the Brainerd lakes area reported seeing flashes of light streaking across the sky and hearing a boom that rattled homes and buildings, and meteorologists say the reports are consistent with a meteor event.

The reports started flowing in to authorities on Friday between 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., the Brainerd Dispatch reported. Some residents said they saw a turquoise streak light up the sky, and others say a bright light illuminated their homes, even darkened rooms where the drapes were closed.

There's been no confirmation of a meteor, said Kevin Kraujalis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. However, the reports seem consistent with what happens when a meteor enters the atmosphere, he said.

"There's no other explanation," Kraujalis said. He added that there were reports of meteor sightings the previous night in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa.

It's possible there will never be confirmation. If there were a meteor, it may have burned up completely in the atmosphere. If it broke into pieces, the fragments might never be found, particular since the sightings occurred in a rural area that's not densely populated.
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Chelyabinsk meteor hit the Earth like a warning shot fired from space

Ian Sample
The Guardian
Mon, 30 Dec 2013 09:32 UTC
russian meteor
© APThe meteorite fireball that fell over Chelyabinsk briefly burned 30 times brighter than the sun.
The meteorite is providing invaluable information to help protect against larger rocks that might pose a serious threat to Earth

Just after sunrise on 15 February 2013, as commuters made their way along snow-covered roads to Chelyabinsk in south-west Russia, the clear blue sky was torn by a hurtling lump of space rock.

The meteorite appeared without warning, out of the sun, on a shallow trajectory. It thumped into the atmosphere at 12 miles per second and became a fireball. For a moment, the rock burned 30 times brighter than the sun.

Viktor Grokhovsky, a researcher at Ural Federal University, 200km to the north of Chelyabinsk, missed the beautiful, terrifying spectacle that morning, but within minutes was watching video of the event. He spent the rest of the day assembling a search party. The first of several set out at first light the next morning to interview eyewitnesses and recover pieces of the fallen rock.

"It was rather easy to find fragments in the first days after the meteorite fell, because the chunks left holes in the snow," Grokhovsky told the Guardian. But as more snow fell over the next two weeks, the holes became covered over. The search was called off until the snow began to melt in the spring.

Comment: Celestial Intentions: Comets and the Horns of Moses
Killer Space Rocks
2012 saw record number of meteorite falls so far this century

SOTT readers would be well advised to check out just how 'rare' these celestial occurrences actually are these days. Not as 'rare' as the 'experts' want you to believe.

SOTT diligently tracks sightings and impacts here:
Fire in the Sky

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