(meteorobs) Texas fireball

[Jim Pettit]

Well, remember that determining the lateral distance of a body falling
quickly through the atmosphere is notoriously difficult for even the most
seasoned skywatcher--especially on a crystal-clear day as it appeared to be
in Austin when the video was shot--so it may be a bit premature to say such
an object "...appears to be close to the viewer."

FWIW, as a lifelong skywatcher, I've seen probably dozens of manmade objects
re-entering earth's atmosphere, and I've also seen hundreds of bright
meteors (even a few daylight ones) with which to compare, and I'll say this:
there really is no comparison.

-----Original Message-----
From: meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org
[mailto:meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org] On Behalf Of Pat Branch
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 7:55 AM
To: edcannonsat at yahoo.com; Global Meteor Observing Forum
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Texas fireball

The Austin video was very low in the sky and appears to be close to the 
viewer...it is not going 11 or 7.5 km/s after it has gotten below cloud 
level. It was not the same object seen in the Waco area and neither of 
those is related to the one(s) seen Richardson, Burleson, and McKenny.

So multiple objects at the same time in daylight tells me it is not 
likely a meteor(s). Even though STRATCOM said in one report that it was 
not related to the collision, I think we will hear it was.