Fire in the SkyS


Fireball 4

Bright green glowing fireball seen from Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, 8 November 2012


lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com
Sat, 10 Nov 2012 10:19 UTC
Image
© lunarmeteoritehunters
Initial Sighting Reports

08 November 2012 - Tim Hunter, Fort Collins, CO., USA 11:30 pm MST
4-7 seconds duration - Direction was from Southwest to Northeast. Very bright, [like a] cutting torch.
08 November 2012 - April Medley, Clovis, New Mexico, USA 23:00 Mountain Time
20 seconds duration - Started above my house, went from South to North, I was facing North. White flash then saw a large falling "fireball" which had many large and visible fragments, latent visual trail was visible for about 20 seconds. Very unusual and large, seemed close. 5 minutes later I heard a large "boom" in the direction the body traveled. White light like other stars but brighter than all others I could see.
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Fireball

Spectacular meteor lights up Calgary sky, 5 November 2012

Melissa Ramsay
Global Calgary
Sat, 10 Nov 2012 08:15 UTC

Some Calgarians with their eye on the sky early Monday morning may have witnessed a brief but bright meteor.

It happened around 5:30 a.m. on November 5th, and was captured on camera by Don Hladiuk, an astronomer at the Calgary Science Centre.

Traffic on Deerfoot Trail even slowed to view the rare sight.
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Meteor

Two more meteorites found from spectacular 17 October California fireball


Sacramento Bee
Fri, 02 Nov 2012 08:01 UTC
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Not normal
Meteor hunters say they have found two more remnants of the streaking fireball that lit up California skies last month.

The latest find - reported on Thursday - was also in the San Francisco Bay area city of Novato and brings the total number of chunks of rock that fell from the Oct. 17 meteor explosion to four. The meteorites are known as metal chondrites because they contain microscopic metal particles called chondrules.

The exploding streak was especially visible over the San Francisco Bay Area and other parts of Northern California, with reports of a bright fireball and loud boom from Santa Cruz County to Mendocino County.

Warm temperatures and cloud-free skies made the bright light more visible.

Source: The Associated Press
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Fireball

Fireball lights up Washington sky

Brett Whitmarsh
WCSH6
Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:15 UTC
Meteor
© WCSH6
Arlington, Washington - Halloween proved to be an interesting night for law enforcement in at least four Western Washington counties after reports of a meteor falling to Earth.

The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said deputies investigated a possible meteor falling somewhere near I-5 and Exit 212, between Stanwood and Arlington.

K9 Officers also responded, but nothing was found.

Deputies cleared the scene, but said they "assume it is a meteor, unless we hear otherwise."

An Arlington police officer confirmed seeing something fall from the sky.

The Federal Aviation Administration said they also fielded calls from people who reported they saw a meteor.

So far, nothing has been found.
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Fireball 5

30 October 2012 fireball over southern Midwest, U.S.

Robert Lunsford
American Meteor Society
Thu, 01 Nov 2012 09:41 UTC
The American Meteor Society has received over 60 reports of a bright meteor that occurred near 06:10 CDT on Tuesday morning October 30, 2012, over the southern mid-western states. Reports were received as far south as Alabama and Louisiana, as far north as Illinois, as far east as Kentucky and Tennessee, and as far west as Texas and Oklahoma. Brightness estimates of this fireball vary considerably, but the average lies near magnitude -13, which is equivalent to the light produced by the full moon. Several colors have been reported with green being the most predominant. Summaries of individual reports may be viewed in the 2012 AMS Fireball Table Refer to event #1677 for 2012.

We are near the peak time of year for Taurid meteors, which are known to produce colorful fireballs. Bill Cooke of the NASA Meteoroid Environments Office reports that this fireball was most likely a member of the Taurid meteor shower, which is active during October and November. He provides the following details:
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Fireball 5

'Super big and bright' fireball seen falling out of sky over Seattle area


Fox News
Thu, 01 Nov 2012 08:59 UTC
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A ball of fire, a possible meteor, was seen falling out of the sky over the Seattle area Wednesday night, authorities said. Residents north of Seattle, off Interstate 5's Exit 212 near Arlington, saw something coming apart in the sky, police and the Washington State Patrol said.

No planes were reported missing, and nothing was found by police.

"We are clearing the scene and assuming it is a meteor, unless we hear otherwise," the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said in a tweet.

On the Q13 FOX News Facebook page, Aaaron Porcaro wrote, "I saw it in south Seattle. It was super big and bright!!! It was traveling from the southwest to the northeast."

"We saw it trick-or-treating in Renton!" wrote Sandra Jean Feaser, referring to the southern suburb of Renton.

"Told you I wasn't seeing things," wrote Stacey Schwartfigure.

A viewer, Monica Jeffries, wrote this to the Q13 FOX News tips line:

"While on I-5 northbound at around the Kent Des Moines exit - I was on my way to the airport - I saw to my right a big ball/bright light fall from the sky. At first I thought it was a plane falling down so I became really concerned and was waiting for the big impact or explosion and then to my surprise this big light presented some sort of a 'tail' and then just like that it turned into a big greenish ball and then it disappeared.

"Anyway, this jus in case you receive anymore sightings from somebody else. Otherwise I guess I must be crazy and now I'm seeing weird things falling from the sky. Hahaha Thanks!"
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Meteor

Once in lifetime events? Man finds two meteorites from two separate fireballs exploding over California, six months apart


NEWS10abc
Thu, 01 Nov 2012 06:59 UTC
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Fireball 2

Second meteorite found in Novato, California, following enormous fireball 17 October

Nicole Baptista
Twin Cities Times
Wed, 31 Oct 2012 06:52 UTC
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Glenn Rivera received the meteorite as a birthday gift from the Webbers who first discovered it.
A magnetic piece of rock stirred up controversy last week, but scientists confirmed, and reconfirmed, that the mysterious object in Novato residents Lisa and Kurt Webber's backyard was a meteorite. And to prove it, a second was discovered just miles from the Webbers' home.

Webber gave the meteorite to her neighbor Glenn Rivera as a birthday gift. He helped her analyze the chunk before calling scientists. The meteorite broke off from the meteor shower that blazed over the night sky at approximately 7:44 p.m. on Oct. 17. It also happened to be Rivera's birthday.

"As a result, Glenn was asked by the scientific team to ride in the airship Eureka from Moffett Field on Friday," said Leigh Blair, Rivera's mother. "They flew over Novato and all the way up to Lake Berryessa, following the calculated trajectory of the meteor, looking for signs of larger meteorites on the ground."
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Fireball

Doppler radar indicates larger of Tuesday's two exploding daytime fireballs over Alabama showered large amount of meteoritic rain

Jennifer Watson
valleywx.com
Wed, 31 Oct 2012 07:43 UTC
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After analyzing images, above is the likely streak from the meteor that moved across part of north/central Alabama’s sky around 5:25 pm this evening, captured on WHNT’s camera at Athens State University.
Update on reports of fireball earlier in the sky from Dr. Bill Cooke of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center:
"This was NOT a Taurid meteor; probably a random interloper from the asteroid belt. Doppler weather radar shows a meteoritic "rain", indicating that there are meteorites on the ground in Alabama. The radar signature is stronger than the recent California fireball, which produced meteorites in the San Francisco area. We are still working out a precise location for the meteor impact."
Though the meteor was not from the Taurid Meteor shower, there was one that was from the Taurid Meteor Shower that passed over parts of eastern and central Tennessee just after 6:00 am. Below is a statement from Dr. Bill Cooke and an image of the path of the fireball.
"So the bolide appeared some 44 miles above a point midway between the towns of Stanton and Mason, and moved slightly north of east at a speed 3 times faster than that of the International Space Station, finally terminating above the town of Pinson, which is southeast of Jackson, TN. Altitude at last visibility was 18.1 miles, which is fairly low for a meteor."
Multiple reports on social media and phone calls have come into the station about a fireball in the sky late this afternoon and early this evening. Actually this is not the first report of a fireball in the sky today, there were reports of a fireball earlier today in Arkansas. Two meteor showers occur during the month of October, one which was the Orionid Meteor shower that peaked a couple weeks ago. The second is the Taurid Meteor Shower that started October 20th. NASA states that, "Taurids are slow, and you might see bright fireballs. The Orionids are fast and mostly faint." The Taurid Meteor Shower does not peak until November 10th and even then only seven meteors per hour are expected. So obviously it is more modest, but long lasting meteor shower. Likely the fireball seen in the sky early this evening was a meteor. The Taurid Meteor Shower is an annual meteor shower that radiates from the constellation Taurus the bull, hence it's name, as Earth passes through debri from the comet Encke.

Comment: All these exploding fireballs raining down meteorites from coast to coast, and which are NOT part of the usual background meteor showers, begs the question: just what the heck is going on?!

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Fireball 4

Meteor explodes above Alabama, 30 October 2012, NOT a Taurid or so-called 'Hallowe'en Fireball'

Ana Rodriguez
alabama.com
Wed, 31 Oct 2012 07:30 UTC
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© File photo
Alabama residents across the state have reported the sight of a meteor or fire ball at about 5:40 this evening.

Holly Britton, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Birmingham, confirmed that several people have called the station to report similar sightings. Britton said she has received calls from as far north as Winston, Ala. and as far south as Clanton. The local radar, however, did not pick up anything significant, she said.

Fox 6 reports that the Blount County Sherriff has received confirmation from the Birmingham Emergency Management Agency that the streaks of light reported were in fact caused by a meteor shower.

Earlier today, James Spann tweeted that more than 300 Alabama residents have reported the sighting on his Facebook page.

According to space.com, the sightings could be attributed to the Taurid meteors, sometimes called the "Halloween fireballs," because they appear each year between mid-October and mid-November.

Comment:
According to space.com, the sightings could be attributed to the Taurid meteors, sometimes called the "Halloween fireballs," because they appear each year between mid-October and mid-November.
Except that it wasn't:
Update on reports of fireball earlier in the sky from Dr. Bill Cooke of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center:
"This was NOT a Taurid meteor; probably a random interloper from the asteroid belt. Doppler weather radar shows a meteoritic "rain", indicating that there are meteorites on the ground in Alabama. The radar signature is stronger than the recent California fireball, which produced meteorites in the San Francisco area.We are still working out a precise location for the meteor impact."


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