(meteorobs) Fireball and booms reported - Dorchester County, Md., to the Virginia/North Carolina border

[Thomas Dorman]

Does any one have a duration time for this event.Naval observatory in Washingtopn is telling media it was a decaying SL4 rocket body.Yes,there was a pass over that area but forecast decay was nearly two hours later than reported event+/- 1 minute.



--- On Mon, 3/30/09, Barbara Wilson <bwilson2 at ix.netcom.com> wrote:

> From: Barbara Wilson <bwilson2 at ix.netcom.com>
> Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Fireball and booms reported - Dorchester County, Md., to the Virginia/North Carolina border
> To: "Global Meteor Observing Forum" <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
> Date: Monday, March 30, 2009, 2:33 PM
> Kent Blackwell, an amateur astronomer who saw this as it
> happened has posted a detailed report on  on
> amastro at yahoogroups.com.
> 
> 
> --- In meteorobs at yahoogroups.com, Leo S
> <l.stachowicz at ...> wrote:
> >
> > Some of you may want to check your cameras. Do we have
> anyone on this 
> > list in that area?
> > 
> > Leo
> > 
> > 
> >
> http://hamptonroads.com/2009/03/loud-explosions-lights-sky-reported-maryland-nc
> > 
> > Streaking lights, explosions reported all along coast
> > 
> > Were they meteors? A comet? UFOs?
> > 
> > People from Maryland to Hampton Roads heard loud
> explosions and saw 
> > brilliant, streaking lights in the sky Sunday night.
> > 
> > There was no immediate explanation, the National
> Weather Service office 
> > in Wakefield said. The Virginia Beach 911 center had
> numerous calls 
> > waiting just before 10 p.m., a supervisor said.
> > 
> > The Weather Service said reports were made from
> Dorchester County, Md., 
> > to the Virginia/North Carolina border. People said
> they saw a streak in 
> > the sky and heard an explosion.
> > 
> > "It was orange, like a fireball," said Steve
> Wagner, who lives in the 
> > Great Bridge area of Chesapeake and said what he saw
> was too close to be 
> > a shooting star. Wagner was outside cooking with
> family when he saw the 
> > streak. He said he went inside when his daughter
> called, then heard an 
> > explosion that sounded like thunder.
> > 
> > Chris Wamsley, a meteorologist with the National
> Weather Service's 
> > Wakefield office, said there could be various causes
> of the explosions 
> > and lights. A team of people is looking into what
> happened, he said.
> > 
> > Lindsey Hosek of the Great Neck area of Virginia Beach
> was jogging along 
> > the water with her dog when the sky lit up, she said.
> > 
> > "The bright light at first terrified me because I
> thought somebody was 
> > shining a light on me, and then I saw it, and I was in
> complete awe 
> > because it was so beautiful," she said.
> > 
> > Then she saw something that looked like a comet moving
> low toward the 
> > ground; it was blue in front followed by orange and
> appeared to be the 
> > shape and size of a refrigerator.
> > 
> > "It was just so low. It was like where a bird
> should be," she said. "It 
> > was definitely heading downward."
> > 
> > She was on the phone with a friend a minute later when
> she heard an 
> > explosion.
> > 
> > Kenneth Martin of Chesapeake's South Norfolk
> neighborhood said he saw 
> > what appeared to be lightning, then the sky turned
> blue.
> > 
> > Then, he said, a white ball of fire shot close to the
> ground and 
> > appeared to burn out. He said he's sure it was a
> meteor.
> > 
> > "It was so vivid in the sky, blinking," he
> said. "It was the strangest 
> > thing I've ever seen."
> > 
> > No damage was reported, the Weather Service said.
> > 
> > /Patrick Wilson, (757) 446-2957, patrick.wilson at .../
> > 
> > 
> > 
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> 
> 
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