Fireballs
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Fireball

'Explosive' boom rattles central Virginia homes

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File photo of a meteor fireball. There appear to be more and more of them, and they appear to be reaching closer to the ground so that more and more people are hearing them explode in the atmosphere
CBS 6 News has received hundreds of tips since our story aired about mysterious booms being heard across Central Virginia. Some said the noises were so intense they rattled their homes.

Police and firefighters in Colonial Heights were called out to three different parts of the city Sunday after receiving calls about mysterious sounds.

"It's a loud, loud boom," Clint Lanier, who lives in Chesterfield County, told CBS 6 senior reporter Wayne Covil. "It' ain't no shotgun and it ain't no kind of gun. It's like an explosion."

Sgt. Rob Ruxer with Colonial Heights police said dispatchers received at least three calls just before 5:30 p.m. Sunday from citizens in separate areas of the city about a loud noise.

"There was a large boom. I thought it was thunder," Kelsey Barnes of Colonial Heights said. "It kind of shook the house a little bit, but I have no idea what it was."

Comment: Why on earth is this going on at this time?

Because it's raining meteor fireballs!


Meteor

Learn to recognize the signs of an overhead explosion: Loud rumble and roar in Moore, Oklahoma, USA

Residents in Moore and southwest Oklahoma City took to Facebook after hearing a loud rumble and roar early Monday morning.

Some thought it was an earthquake while others had their own theories, like UFOs and aliens.

The sound Chris Martinez hears often in his Moore neighborhood is an unforgettable ringing.

Martinez said, "It's a loud sound then it completely stops."

Austin Holland, with the Oklahoma Geological Survey, said,"We looked at our seismic records and there's nothing that would indicate that this was associated with ground motion."

After ruling out an earthquake, seismologists said the sound could have traveled from somewhere else.

Experts said if it's a quick shaking, it's an earthquake.

If it's a large rumbling, it could be a big plane.

However, residents in the area have their own theory.

Comment: We have a feeling that the rumbling and roaring sound Moore residents heard on early Monday morning is different from the ringing sound the author of the article chose to concentrate on and ridicule. It's important to learn to recognize the real nature of the sounds, and not to fall for ludicrous explanations, such as this one: 'Frost-quakes' or overhead meteor explosions? Massive boom shakes houses in Toronto


Meteor

And the fireballs keep falling: Massive explosion rocks Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin - Media again pretends homes were shaken by 'frost-quake'

A series of mysterious booms have left some people in Fond du Lac County shaken.


Residents in cities like Waupun, Campbellsport and Markesan heard loud pops Tuesday night around 6:00 pm.

One of them was Wayne Guenther. He was sitting at his kitchen table with his wife and a friend when his house shook.

"It sounded just like an explosion." He said.

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


Comet

Another overhead explosion: People baffled after being awoken by sound 'like single explosion' echoing across East Yorkshire, UK

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© UnknownThe mysterious sound woke people up across Hull and East Yorkshire
Baffled families were woken by a mysterious loud bang heard across East Yorkshire early this morning. Dozens of people from Hull to Withernsea took to social media after hearing the noise echo through the skies at about 3.30am.

Others posted about the sound from as far away as Cleethorpes and Derby. Many believed a thunderclap was to blame but the Met Office said there was no storm in the area at the time.

Writing on the Mail's Facebook page, Alan Key said the noise "woke us up and scared us to death. People say it was thunder but to me it sounded more like an explosion."

Friends in Beverley and west Hull told Mr Key they also heard the sound. Karen Holdstock, who lives in the Greatfield estate, said it woke her too.

Martin Hardcastle said it sounded like "amazingly loud thunder" at his house in Withernsea and Ruth Clarkson reported it in Patrington.

Michelle Ketley posted saying she was frightened by how sudden it was.

She wrote: "I've been thinking about it all morning. I was shaking when it woke me up and I'm not scared of thunder at all. It was very bizarre."

Twitter users have also been discussing the sound today.

Fireball 4

Did you see the fireball that broke up over Ireland last Friday evening?

Fireball
© Petar Petrov/AP/Press Association Images
A dramatic fireball broke up over Ireland last Friday evening.

Astronomy Ireland have confirmed they received dozens of reported sightings of the fireball, thought to have occurred just before 6pm last Friday.

The astronomy organisation say it was seen in multiple counties including Mayo, Cork, and Wexford.

One reader of TheJournal.ie got in touch to say he spotted it over Dublin at 5.40pm, adding that it was an "amazing sight".

"It would have probably broken up quite high in the atmosphere for it to be seen in so many counties," Conor Farrell from Astronomy Ireland said.

Attention

Best of the Web: Review of extreme weather and cosmic events on Earth in 2013 (VIDEO)

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Record heatwaves and wildfires, widespread and severe flooding, massive sinkholes swallowing buildings and people, mass animal deaths, an asteroid exploding over Russia, thousands more fireballs lighting up the sky throughout the year, record-breaking blizzards snowfall, the coldest northern spring in 100 years, massive landslides, 'rare' tornadoes occurring in places they shouldn't, the widest tornado ever observed, more volcanic eruptions, more major earthquakes forming new islands, the strongest tropical storm in recorded history, successive hurricanes in Europe, the coldest temperature ever recorded, snow in Cairo... these are signs of climate change, aka Earth Changes.

Welcome to the new normal.


Fireball 2

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

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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


Fireball 5

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

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

Fireball 4

A new major meteor shower in 2014? Earth might be sandblasted with debris from Comet 209P/LINEAR May 24, 2014

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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


Fireball 5

Explosive booming noises mystify Vermont residents

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!

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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