Fireballs
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Fireball 4

Rare meteorite fragments discovered from March fireball in Stubenberg, Germany

Victoria Woollaston and Richard Gray
Daily Mail
Tue, 29 Mar 2016 18:18 UTC
Experts from Munster said they are 'delighted' to recover several fragments identified as being of the 'LL Chondritenklasse' (LL chondrite) class of meteorite - mostly stone with very little metal inside. This image shows how the meteorite looks under the
Experts from Munster said they are 'delighted' to recover several fragments identified as being of the 'LL Chondritenklasse' (LL chondrite) class of meteorite - mostly stone with very little metal inside. This image shows how the meteorite looks under the polarising microscope
Scientists have discovered fragments from an extremely rare meteorite strike that took place above Germany earlier this month.

Experts from Munster said they are 'delighted' to recover several fragments identified as being of the 'LL Chondritenklasse' (LL chondrite) class of meteorite - mostly stone with very little metal inside.

The latest fragments, which struck the earth in the municipality of Stubenberg in Bavaria, are already being studied excitedly by experts, who anticipate more fragments will still turn up.

The fireball was spotted over Bavaria on 6 March.

The fireball was spotted over Bavaria on 6 March (pictured)
The fireball was spotted over Bavaria on 6 March (pictured)
Meteorite expert Professor Dr Addi Bischoff from the Institute for Planetary Studies at the University of Munster (WWU) said: 'Alert sky watchers spotted the meteorites burning into the atmosphere on 6 March.

'By analysing images of the entry, we were able to locate the impact point and find fragments on the ground, in total weighing 40g.
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Cloud Precipitation

Best of the Web: Signs of Change: Earth changes, extreme weather and meteor fireballs in March 2016

HawkkeyDavis
Youtube
Thu, 24 Mar 2016 05:59 UTC
signs of change March 2016
© Youtube/HawkkeyDavis (screen capture)
Sea life washing up dead - Earth opening up to swallow rivers and vehicles - Record rainfall in Peru, flooding in Rio de Janeiro - Loud booms of unknown origin shaking homes - Strongest earthquake so far in 2016 hits Indonesia - Meteors lighting up the night sky - Yet another '1-in-1,000-years' rain event flooding central and southern US - Heavy snow in Mexico - A year's worth of rain in one day flooding Persian Gulf states...

This series does not mean the world is ending! These are videos showing a series of extreme weather events that are leading to bigger Earth Changes. If you're following the series, you're seeing the signs. It's much more than one video...

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Fireball 4

Green meteor fireball spotted in South Florida by dozens of people

Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post.
Tue, 29 Mar 2016 20:15 UTC
Meteor map Florida
The American Meteor Society said this morning that dozens of people are reporting to have spotted a bluish or green fireball over South Florida at about 6:30.

More than 40 reports were made to the AMS from people who claim to have witnessed the event from Kendall to Jupiter. Nine reports came from people in Palm Beach County.

Mike Hankey, operations manager for the American Meteor Society, said it was a random fireball and not part of a known meteor shower.

"Lots of folks are talking about it," Hankey said. "It only happened three hours ago, so not much information yet."

A report from a West Palm Beach man says the fireball cut a long trail across the sky.

"Train was glowing an iridescent or almost neon blue with white edges," the man reported. "Looked like it was 300-500 yards behind the fireball itself but was still attached to the head of the fireball."

Estimated trajectory of this morning’s fireball based on witness reports.
Estimated trajectory of this morning’s fireball based on witness reports.
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Fireball 2

Bright meteor fireball fragments over the Netherlands, Belgium and UK


Sott.net
Sun, 27 Mar 2016 20:20 UTC
Map fireball
© Fireballs.imo.net
Shortly after midnight on Saturday March 26, 2016, a meteor fireball was spotted over the Netherlands, from Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Cuijck, Pijnacker and Zoeterwoude. The fireball was reported to have a blue bright color, while others recalled a green color. It was also witnessed in Belgium, the UK, and northern France.

"It looked like the blue light of a police helicopter, but it moved too fast and too diagonally," a resident of Rotterdam said. Readers of the Dutch 'Astroblogs' website reported seeing a 'green, luminous phenomenon'.

Another reader, Remco Haring, reported seeing something passing by 'for two seconds', and which 'ended in a green or blue light'. Haring described it as appearing to have 'consisted of multiple parts', indicating that the meteor fireball disintegrated into fragments.
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Fireball

Rate of meteor fireballs over US so far in 2016 is higher than 2015

Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
Mon, 14 Mar 2016 20:41 UTC
AMS fireballs
© American Meteor SocietyIt's raining fireballs all over the place
While March is usually a slow month for meteor showers as none of the major annual events occur this month, the American Meteor Society has reported six major fireball events since March 1 and NASA says fireballs can increase as much as 30 percent in spring.

A fireball is defined as a meteor that is brighter than the planet Venus and usually has a bright trailing tail.

The reason for the increase in fireball activity is "still unknown," NASA says, but one thought is simply that more space debris litters the Earth's orbit near the spring equinox, which is March 20.


Comment: Sure, more space debris is littering Earth's orbit near the spring equinox now - as in, this is a new phenomenon!


According to the AMS, 2016 has seen an increase in the number of reported fireballs. Since Jan. 1, 910 fireballs have been reported through its online report program, compared to 839 reports received during the same time last year.

Comment: Whoever at NASA made these statements clearly hasn't checked their own data. February and March are typically among the lowest months for fireball numbers.

It's looking like the overall trend will be way up this year, with much more to come in the typically more active second-half of the year.

For spectacular footage of just some of the hundreds of meteor fireballs that lit up the night sky the world over last month, check out our latest instalment of the SOTT Earth Changes Summary video:

SOTT Earth Changes Summary - February 2016: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs


See also:

NASA space data supports citizens' observations: Meteor fireballs are increasing dramatically

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Fireball 2

Camera at Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park captures meteor fireball followed by strange flash of light


Strange Sounds
Sun, 06 Mar 2016 08:35 UTC
Yellowstone plasma discharge
© Youtube/Kat Martin2016 (screen capture)

Watch this awesome fireball disintegrating in the sky of Yellowstone National Park just near Old Faithful Geyser on February 29, 2016. But what is this big flash of light toward the end of the recording? OMG an earthquake light?

This timelaspe video shows a fireball striking over the Yellowstone National Park on February 29, 2016. But at the end of the footage, 25 seconds after the beginning, a bright flash of light cuts off the silent darkness.


Comment: Indeed, much time seems to pass between the streak of light, which could well have been another incoming meteor fireball, and the flash of light. The two events do seem to be related though. A possible plasma discharge event?

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Fireball 5

Bright meteor streaks over Black Sea near Ukraine

asteroid457
Youtube
Thu, 10 Mar 2016 08:02 UTC
Meteor over Black Sea
© Youtube/asteroid457
Bright meteor streaks over Black Sea caught by video observation stations in Mayaki and Odessa, Ukraine on 9th March 2016.

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Info

Chicxulub crater to be drilled for the first time

Evan Gough
Universe Today
Tue, 08 Mar 2016 02:13 UTC
Asteroid Impact
© University of California Observatories/Don DavisAn artist's image of an asteroid Impact.
All over the Earth, there is a buried layer of sediment rich in iridium called the Cretaceous Paleogene-Boundary (K-Pg.) This sediment is the global signature of the 10-km-diameter asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs—and about 50% of all other species—66 million years ago. Now, in an effort to understand how life recovered after that event, scientists are going to drill down into the site where the asteroid struck—the Chicxulub Crater off the coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

The end-Cretaceous extinction was a global catastrophe, and a lot is already known about it. We've learned a lot about the physical effects of the strike on the impact area from oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. According to data from that drilling, released on February 5th in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, the asteroid that struck Earth displaced approximately 200,000 cubic km (48,000 cubic miles) of sediment. That's enough to fill the largest of the Great Lakes—Lake Superior—17 times.

The Chicxulub impact caused earthquakes and tsunamis that first loosened debris, then swept it from nearby areas like present-day Florida and Texas into the Gulf basin itself. This layer is hundreds of meters thick, and is hundreds of kilometers wide. It covers not only the Gulf of Mexico, but also the Caribbean and the Yucatan Peninsula.
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Airplane Paper

Wishful thinking: High-powered laser beam in development to defend earth from approaching space objects

Andre Mitchell
Christian Today
Mon, 07 Mar 2016 01:45 UTC
Chelyabinsk, Russia
© WikipediaA meteor fireball is seen over Chelyabinsk, Russia, on Feb. 15, 2013. The resulting blast injured more than 1,600 people.
For the past few months, asteroids have been making close approaches to Earth, fuelling fears that these space objects may someday hit our planet and cause countless deaths and massive destruction.

We can, however, ease our fears now because American scientists are already developing a high-powered laser beam to defend Earth from these approaching asteroids.

A team of researchers at the University of California has conducted tests on a weapon called De-Star, which stands for Directed Energy System for Targeting of Asteroids and exploration. The researchers are becoming more and more convinced that this technology may actually work.

"Generally speaking, the technology is available today," said Qicheng Zhang of the University of California, Santa Barbara, one of the authors of the project, as quoted by The Telegraph.

The author nevertheless acknowledged that the team would have to develop a device that will be powerful enough to destroy giant asteroids.

"The main challenge with building a full De-Star is the necessary scale to be effective," Zhang said.

The research team has nevertheless succeeded in testing the De-Star's technique on Earth, by blasting a piece of basalt using laser beams. Basalt is a type of rock from frozen magma that has a similar composition as asteroids.

Comment: With all of the 'newly discovered' asteroids and considering impact records, these lasers could not do much to prevent any cataclysms. For more on the reality of our situation here on planet Earth and the potential for bombardment from space objects, read our Comets and Catastrophe series:

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Meteor

Large meteor fireball caught on dash cam in Missouri


KY3
Sun, 06 Mar 2016 08:26 UTC
Mountain Home meteor
© Screenshot via KY3.com
KY3 viewer Tim Zikowsky was setting up a dash cam on his way to work, and caught the meteor falling from the sky.

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