(meteorobs) Flurry of Reported Fireballs

[Robert Verish]

-------------- Forward Messages --------------

From: Ron Baalke [mailto:baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov] 
Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 10:49 AM

Subject: Meteor Rocks Missouri Residents


http://freeinternetpress.com/article.pl?sid=04/06/20/0542230&mode=thread

Car-Sized Meteor Rocks Missouri Residents
Free Internet Press
June 19, 2004
 
Paul Kesterson was getting ready for work Friday
morning when two thunderous explosions a split second
apart rocked the sky above his home.

"It was loud enough to shake the house and rattle the
windows," said Kesterson, owner of Marshfield TV and
Electronics. "The dog's probably still hiding."

The rural Webster County man rushed outside, not sure
what he'd find.

"There was a smoke trail in the sky, but it wasn't
straight," he said. 
"It kind of came down at an angle, like a jet contrail
that the wind had distorted."

The Webster County Sheriff's Department fielded nearly
20 phone calls from area residents around 9:20 a.m.,
concerned something had blown up.

Dispatchers checked with area quarries, which reported
no blasting activity.

And no supersonic aircraft were in the skies above
Webster County, according to Springfield airport and
Fort Leonard Wood officials.

NASA scientist Mike Mumma said the likely culprit was
a "sizable" meteor ripping apart as it blasted through
the atmosphere at 100,000 mph.

"From the description of buildings and windows
shaking, that's a fairly significant sonic boom," said
Mumma, chief scientist of planetary research at
Goddard Research Center in Greenbelt, Md. "It would
have been much larger than fist-sized to make that
loud of a noise and generate that much energy. 
I couldn't speculate how big, though."

Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near Earth Object
monitoring program in Pasadena, Calif., said a meteor
that shakes homes and windows could have been the size
of a small car. 

----------------------------------

[meteorite-list] Air burst
Rex REK7 at cox.net 
Sun Jun 20 11:56:21 EDT 2004 

Hello list,
 
  Did anybody else hear about a meteor exploding over
Las Vegas yesterday morning (6/19) about 5am? I saw it
right after it happened. A straight line cloud about
the length of my thumb with my arm stretched out.  I
have a couple of pictures of it about 2 minutes later
after it started to dissipate,
if anybody is interested. 
(I have to learn to keep fresh batteries in my camera)

            Rex

----------------------------------------------


[meteorite-list] Mystery Explosion Rocks Town in
England
Ron Baalke baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov 
Fri Jun 18 15:19:34 EDT 2004 


http://www.eastbournetoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=577&ArticleID=802656

MYSTERY EXPLOSION ROCKS TOWN
Eastbourne Today (United Kingdom)
June 7, 2004

RESIDENTS in Seaford were rocked by an explosion --
but the cause of the blast remains a mystery.

It's believed the blast happened at Tide Mills at
Bishopstone, between Seaford and Newhaven.

It was reported to police by a member of the public on
May 20 at 11.39am.

A company had been laying pipes on the beach at the
time of the explosion, but workers say they had also
heard the blast and it was not down to them.

Another theory was that the noise was caused by an
aircraft going supersonic over the land, but inquiries
ruled this out.

Officers were told by residents that the explosion
sounded like 'a bomb going off'.

The explosion was also heard by police at the incident
management centre in Seaford.


----------------------------------------------


From: Ron Baalke [mailto:baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov] 
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 5:15 PM

Subject: Meteor Sighted in Australia


http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9869400%255E1702,00.html

Meteorite sighted in NSW
news.com.au (Australia)
June 17, 2004

A METEORITE reportedly the size of a house fell on the
NSW south coast overnight, exploding in a bright
flash, police said today.

A driver on the Hume Highway shortly after 9pm (AEST)
near Menangle reported an object the size of a house
falling from the sky.

The object fell east of the Hume Highway, possibly in
an escarpment near the top of a hill at Bulli, police
were told.

The meteorite was described as glowing silver in
colour and similar to an artillery shell when it
exploded with a bright flash on impact.

Workers at the Sydney Airport Tower said they saw a
meteorite about 9pm, police said. 


----------------------------------------------

[meteorite-list] Giant Blast in New Zealand Believed
To Be Meteor
Ron Baalke baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov 
Tue Jun 15 12:48:53 EDT 2004 

Previous message: [meteorite-list] New Zealand Man to
Sell Meteorite 
Next message: [meteorite-list] Asteroids and Comets:
Deadly Dangers from Above 

Note: the date on this meteor appears to be the day
before the meteorite fall on the house in New Zealand.

Ron Baalke

----------

Giant blast believed to be meteor
By BERNARD CARPINTER
www.stuff.co.nz
June 11, 2004

A meteor entering Earth's atmosphere is the most
likely explanation for a huge bang and flash of light
that woke people all over Wairoa.

People reported what sounded like an explosion at
3.40am yesterday from Kotemaori, south of Wairoa, to
Mahia Peninsula in the north and Lake Waikaremoana
inland.

Sergeant Chris Flood said he slept through the bang
but many people had been woken by it.

"The reports have come in from places probably 75
kilometres apart.

"It must have been one hell of an explosion."

Those who had been awake said they had seen light
filling the sky, much brighter than lightning.

"It lit up everything, they said," Mr Flood said.

There had been no reports of damage.

A meteor seemed the most probable cause.

A Mahia resident said she had been woken by a big
thud, followed by two or three smaller ones.

"I thought someone had hit our shed so I went and had
a look but there was nothing there," she said.

The senior astronomer at the Carter Observatory in
Wellington, Brian Carter, said he had received no
reports of a meteor in the region.

June had been predicted to be a quiet month for meteor
showers in New Zealand, but it was still possible for
a single meteor to come in.

"It must have been something quite impressive," Mr
Carter said.

The meteor could have exploded in the atmosphere, in
which case none of it - or only very small parts of it
- would have hit the ground.

Observatory astronomer Kay Leather said a meteor,
which may be no larger than fist size, would cause a
loud explosion and a light as bright as daylight.

The duty seismologist at the Institute of Geological
and Nuclear Sciences, Peter McGinty, said the
institute had a station at Nuhaka, north of Wairoa,
but it had recorded no tremors at that time.

That indicated that the meteor - assuming it was a
meteor - must have burnt up in the atmosphere.


---------------------------------------------------

[meteorite-list] Statistics for Falls
martinh at isu.edu martinh at isu.edu 
Wed Jun 16 17:03:56 EDT 2004 


Hi Bernd and All,

Out of curiosity, I looked up the falls of 1933 since
it has the most witnessed falls at 18 compared to the
overall average number of falls of 6.6 falls per year.


But now the surprise:

L6: 3
L5: 1
H4: 1
H3.5-4.5: 1
LL6: 2
Chondrite unknown: 1

Stone unknown: 1

CM2: 1

Howardite: 1
Eucrite: 3
Aubrite: 1

IIF iron: 1

Mesosiderite: 1

Hardly an ‘average’ year.

Any thoughts?

Martin