(meteorobs) Fw: Possible meteorite

[Hunter, Robert]

Real problem here.

Meteorites are very cold; not hot.  Only a thin skin is heated during
the 2-5 seconds they're meteors.  The greater bulk of the object is
still at the temperature of space. 

-----Original Message-----
From: meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org
[mailto:meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org] On Behalf Of Robert Lunsford
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 2:05 PM
To: meteorobs at meteorobs.org
Subject: (meteorobs) Fw: Possible meteorite

Here is an interesting note sent to the American Meteor Society. I could
have dismissed this story outright but I felt others had the right to
express their views. I'll share any of your comments with Linda.

Thanks!

Bob

----- Original Message -----
Subject: Possible meteorite


I am not sure if what I witnessed was a meteorite or something else. 
Perhaps your insight and knowledge of meteorites will help answer my 
question.

In 1952, when I was 8 years old, my family lived in a house on a hill 
overlooking Townline Lake in Lakeview, Michigan.  I was sitting on the 
screened porch when I heard a loud splash.  When I looked up, I saw a
large 
round area of the lake boiling.  I was frozen with fascination.  The
boiling 
area looked to be perfectly round.  It was approximately 50-75 yards
from 
shore ( it's hard to judge distance across the water) and the round
boiling 
area was approximately 30-40 feet wide.  The boiling circle drifted to
the 
left about 20-30 feet from where it had begun as if something was
drifting 
down to the bottom of the lake at an angle.  After watching it for
several 
minutes, the boiling slowly stopped.  After the boiling had stopped, I
ran 
to tell my mother about it.  Of course she didn't see anything since the

boiling had already stopped, but I think she did believe me since I was
not 
one to make things up.

Would a meteorite cause water to boil like that if it fell into a lake? 
Would it have cooled off enough to stop the water from boiling in only a
few 
minutes?  Would a meteorite cause the water to boil in a perfectly round

pattern?  Could a meteorite hitting earth be that large and not cause
any 
destruction if it fell into a lake?  I have always wondered what it
might 
have been, and now, 52 years later, I remember the incident like it was
only 
yesterday and am still perplexed by the incident.

Any information you might be able to shed on the subject would be
greatly 
appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Linda Johnstone


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