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Fire in the SkyS
© JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma WijayaOne of the houses in East Jakarta nearly demolished by meteorites
Forensics experts from the police and National Aeronautics and Space Agency (Lapan) investigators are combing the site, with the latter saying that while there was no conclusive proof the damage was caused by a meteorite, it was the most likely explanation.
Police ruled out earlier speculation that the incident was a gas canister exploding.
One house was moderate damage and two adjoining properties suffered minor damage after blast on Jalan Delima II. There were no reported casualties.
Lapan researcher Abdurrahman said no fragments of the projectile had been found but the deep crater in the floor of the house, the residual heat footprint and melted items pointed to a meteorite.
"I suspect the object impacted at high velocity, hit the floor, bounced back and hit the ceiling, then fell back down," he said. "It's extremely difficult to recover the fragments, what with the rubble and broken glass, and it being so dark in here."
Abdurrahman said any suspected meteorite fragment would be taken back to Lapan's headquarters in Bandung for analysis.
The lifeguard captured the meteorite in a mobile phone video:
An unidentified object thought to be a small meteor fell from the sky on one of Bat Yam's beaches, just south of Tel Aviv, Saturday afternoon, Ynet has learned.
No injuries were reported, but witnesses said the object fell very close to the lifeguard booth and caused a small fire. The meteorite landed in a beach earmarked for religious visitors that features separate swimming times for men and women.
The beach was crowded at the time of the incident, and many visitors gathered around the object after it landed.
Police said the object was a meteor and sappers headed to the scene in order to look into the celestial object.
© Ilan Lilush, Tel Aviv PoliceLifeguards and the small object.
No injuries were reported, but witnesses said the object fell very close to the lifeguard booth and caused a small fire. The meteorite landed in a beach earmarked for religious visitors that features separate swimming times for men and women.
The beach was crowded at the time of the incident, and many visitors gathered around the object after it landed.
Police said the object was a meteor and sappers headed to the scene in order to look into the celestial object.
The boom was so loud it shook houses in Fayetteville and was followed by a bright flash.
A scene right out of a Stephen King novel or the latest sci-fi movie came to Fayetteville Saturday night, but no one is quite sure what happened.
A sonic boom from a plane? A fireworks explosive set off by kids? A blown transformer or street light?
Or could it be some unsuspecting creature that got "fried" by electricity from a power line and then vaporized on the spot?
Susan Rausch, who lives on Oakwood Drive in Fayetteville, jumped out of her seat when she heard the boom that caused the house to shake.
"I can't imagine what it could have been," she said. "It sounded like a gas explosion. It was so loud I jumped out and ran outside to see if I could see or smell anything. But there was nothing."
The loud boom and bright flash of light was seen, heard and felt by Fayetteville residents in a roughly a 2- to 3-mile circlular area centered around Hoag Lane by Wellwood Middle School and Redfield Drive near Immaculate Conception School, Manlius police said.
A scene right out of a Stephen King novel or the latest sci-fi movie came to Fayetteville Saturday night, but no one is quite sure what happened.
A sonic boom from a plane? A fireworks explosive set off by kids? A blown transformer or street light?
Or could it be some unsuspecting creature that got "fried" by electricity from a power line and then vaporized on the spot?
Susan Rausch, who lives on Oakwood Drive in Fayetteville, jumped out of her seat when she heard the boom that caused the house to shake.
"I can't imagine what it could have been," she said. "It sounded like a gas explosion. It was so loud I jumped out and ran outside to see if I could see or smell anything. But there was nothing."
The loud boom and bright flash of light was seen, heard and felt by Fayetteville residents in a roughly a 2- to 3-mile circlular area centered around Hoag Lane by Wellwood Middle School and Redfield Drive near Immaculate Conception School, Manlius police said.
A meteor shower is believed to have sparked a spate of calls to coastguards on Friday night from people who thought they were seeing flares or UFOs.
A Portland coastguard spokesman said there had been reports of green flare sightings up and down the coast, from Brixham to Southampton, at around 10pm.
"We were right in the middle of meteorite activity so no action was taken."
A Christchurch man told the Daily Echo: "We saw the lights around 11.30pm. They definitely weren't Chinese lanterns, when we were out in the garden.
"It was really strange."
A Portland coastguard spokesman said there had been reports of green flare sightings up and down the coast, from Brixham to Southampton, at around 10pm.
"We were right in the middle of meteorite activity so no action was taken."
A Christchurch man told the Daily Echo: "We saw the lights around 11.30pm. They definitely weren't Chinese lanterns, when we were out in the garden.
"It was really strange."
© John ValleyFragment of a meteorite from a meteor that blasted a debris field over a mile in length
Scientists say an apparent fragment from a meteor that lit up Midwestern skies this week has been recovered in southwestern Wisconsin.
The fragment weighs 0.3 pounds and is about the size of an unshelled peanut. The meteor had streaked across the sky about 10 p.m. Wednesday and was visible from southern Wisconsin and northern Iowa to central Missouri.
University of Wisconsin geology professor John Valley says fragment has a so-called fusion crust. The paper-thin blackened coating results when a meteor superheats as it speeds through the atmosphere.
Valley says the man who found the fragment lent it to university scientists for a two-hour analysis.
Based on preliminary tests, the meteor appears to have come from the vast asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Posted: April 17, 2010
Location of Sighting: Epping, Essex CM16
Date of Sighting: Friday 16 April 2010
Time: 2302
Witness Statement: We were driving South through the town and as we were passing Tower Road we both saw a bright green light dropping very fast out of the sky from about 500 feet.
It was about half a mile ahead of us and to the West of the High Road.
Location of Sighting: Epping, Essex CM16
Date of Sighting: Friday 16 April 2010
Time: 2302
Witness Statement: We were driving South through the town and as we were passing Tower Road we both saw a bright green light dropping very fast out of the sky from about 500 feet.
It was about half a mile ahead of us and to the West of the High Road.
Best of the Web: HUGE fireball turns sky bright green over southern Wisconsin, starts 9 fires along 1-mile stretch
Many area residents reported a possible meteor flying across the sky over southern Wisconsin on Wednesday night.
Authorities were flooded with curious callers after a meteor streaking across the Midwestern sky looked like a huge fireball. National Weather Service offices in La Crosse, Wis., Des Moines, Iowa, and Kansas City, Mo., received numerous reports of the fireball from law enforcement officials and the public.
The flash of light in the sky was reported just after 10 p.m. People from Iowa to Ohio have apparently reported seeing a fireball.
© University of Wisconsin - AOS/SSECThe meteor was bright green at first, and the sky was almost blue for a few seconds. The meteor then broke into several pieces and glowed orange as it faded away. Was visible for 10-15 seconds. The loop shows a plane going by, then the fireball that illuminates the contrail of that plane (and another from a previous plane that is not visible) The pictures were taken at 10PM CDT on April 14, 2010 (03 UTC April 15, 2010)
The fireball was caused by a small asteroid hitting Earth's atmosphere at a shallow angle. Preliminary infrasound measurements place the energy of the blast at 20 tons of TNT (0.02 kton), with considerable uncertainty. Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office estimates that the space rock was about 1 meter wide and massed some 1260 kg. "Fireballs of this size are surprisingly common," he notes. "They hit Earth about 14 times a month, on average, although most go unnoticed because they appear during the day or over unpopulated areas."
Occurred: 2/28/2010 18:40 (Entered as : 02/28/2010 18:40)
Reported: 2/28/2010 7:54:17 PM 19:54
Posted: 4/13/2010
Location: Homestead/Redlands/Everglades, Florida
Shape: Other
Duration: 10 minutes
Two large fireballs fall from the sky and split into 10 traveling orbs.
My friend and I were driving home from work and noticed what we thought was a large meteor falling from the sky. The meteor was falling for a much longer duration and was significantly larger that I was accustomed to seeing. It looked like a burning fireball traveling at a high speed. It kept falling and then split into two smaller burning fireballs and continued to fall. Well before it hit the ground each meteor split into two orbs or lights (thus four total) and each light turned and traveled horizontal to the ground. They were no longer falling. We then noticed a fifth and all five were traveling at different speeds to the west. We watched them fly for several minutes until they got so far we could no longer see them. They did not fly in any formation and appeared to be traveling at different speeds and altitudes.
Reported: 2/28/2010 7:54:17 PM 19:54
Posted: 4/13/2010
Location: Homestead/Redlands/Everglades, Florida
Shape: Other
Duration: 10 minutes
Two large fireballs fall from the sky and split into 10 traveling orbs.
My friend and I were driving home from work and noticed what we thought was a large meteor falling from the sky. The meteor was falling for a much longer duration and was significantly larger that I was accustomed to seeing. It looked like a burning fireball traveling at a high speed. It kept falling and then split into two smaller burning fireballs and continued to fall. Well before it hit the ground each meteor split into two orbs or lights (thus four total) and each light turned and traveled horizontal to the ground. They were no longer falling. We then noticed a fifth and all five were traveling at different speeds to the west. We watched them fly for several minutes until they got so far we could no longer see them. They did not fly in any formation and appeared to be traveling at different speeds and altitudes.
Comment: HUGE fireball turns sky bright green over southern Wisconsin, starts 9 fires along 1-mile stretch