(meteorobs) Alaskan Fireball - April 23, 2005 - 2AM PDT

[Kim Youmans]

>>>The main reason Kempen's sighting sounds more like junk than a meteor is 
>>>that it exhibited color, Brown said.

>>>"Meteors don't have any blue or green or any colors," he said. "Most of 
>>>the meteors are just rocks."

 Neal Brown, director of the space grant
program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks
Geophysical Institute

***********************************************************************************************
I doubt I would defer to Mr. Brown on this particular point... :)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Verish" <bolidechaser at yahoo.com>
To: <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2005 1:40 PM
Subject: (meteorobs) Alaskan Fireball - April 23, 2005 - 2AM PDT


> http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2833805,00.html
>
> "Official" weighs in on reported flash in the sky
>
> By AMANDA BOHMAN, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (Alaska)
> April 24, 2005
>
>
> As 37-year-old John Kempen traveled the Parks Highway
> to Nenana at about 2 a.m. Saturday, he watched the
> sky, hoping to point out the northern lights to his
> girlfriend.
>
> But instead of spotting a blur of emerald green,
> Kempen saw a bright flash of bluish white with sparks
> for a tail and fiery "chunks breaking off."
>
> The comet-like object, maybe the size of a basketball,
> slid across the sky from the southwest to the
> northeast.
>
> Kempen figured the object was a meteor.
>
> According to Neal Brown, director of the space grant
> program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks
> Geophysical Institute, Kempen probably saw a piece of
> space junk.
>
> An estimated 5,000 to 10,000 pieces of useless debris
> orbit the Earth, Brown said, and more is continually
> added. Among the objects are rocket motors, and bolts
> and flanges, which are adapters between rocket motors.
> Also orbiting the earth are old satellites and
> out-of-commission spacecraft.
>
> "From about 100 to 5,000 miles away from the Earth,
> it's a virtual junkyard," Brown said. "I think there's
> an astronaut's glove still out there."
>
> Gravity pulls the junk back to Earth.
>
> "It's coming in all the time," Brown said.
>
> The main reason Kempen's sighting sounds more like
> junk than a meteor is that it exhibited color, Brown
> said.
>
> "Meteors don't have any blue or green or any colors,"
> he said. "Most of the meteors are just rocks."
>
> Secondly, the sighting was in the wrong part of the
> sky to be a Lyrid meteor, which would likely travel
> from northeast to southwest.
>
> "It's the exact opposite of what they described,"
> Brown said. "It still could have been a meteor, but I
> really don't think so."
>
> Reporter Amanda Bohman can be reached at
> abohman at newsminer.com or 459-7544.
>
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