(meteorobs) Natural meteor or something else?

[Meteorites USA]

Hi Thomas, So you think this might be space debris? That's possible, but 
I don't think so. Every "re-entry" of some sort of satellite, rocket, 
probe, or even the space shuttle disaster, there was massive amounts of 
fragmentation from almost the very beginning of the video. Thousands of 
pieces breaking off from the main mass, and the fragmentation usually 
starts early on, high in the atmosphere.

Your video clearly shows no fragmentation of the body until the last few 
seconds of the flight before the retardation point. It broke into only 3 
"visible" pieces and blinked out. In other words, whatever it was, it 
was solid enough to have survived ~20 seconds of atmospheric entry 
almost intact. Granted it was a slow mover, and at a shallow angle, so 
the preasures weren't as great as say one traveling at 45 degrees and 
25,000+ MPH. However I still think this might be a natural meteor and 
not space debris. Perhaps an iron meteoroid?

Eric



It clearly shows some fragmentation. It breaks into three pieces.

On 10/12/2010 8:37 AM, Thomas Ashcraft wrote:
>    Three different all-sky video camera views have turned up for the
> September 21, 2010 fireball over New Mexico.  I am still wondering if
> this fireball was a natural meteor? It lasts 23 seconds.  One expert
> observer offered the opinion that this may not have been a natural meteor.
>
> In all movies north is screen top and west is screen right.
>
> Any analysis welcome.
>
> Thomas Ashcraft
> New Mexico
>
>
> Albuquerque:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSw0Nc-HMk4
>
> Lamy, New Mexico: ( my capture)
> http://www.heliotown.com/FBs20100922_030127ut_Ashcraft_hr.mp4
>
>
> Los Alamos:
> http://talus-and-heavner.com/sci/meteor/m20100922_030100_281.mp4
>
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