(meteorobs) Two Fireballs on March 23rd from South-Central USA?

[MEM]

I saw this early on and also we've  also sighting vic Utah(?) and Georgia(US) 
making it 4 or 5 or ? possible separate sightings that evening over the lower 
US.  The double fireball in Texas added to the complexity and MAY HAVE 
contributed to the impression that the fireball initially described was much 
larger than it was.  We also had sighting reports around 4:30 am(?) totally out 
of the window of the other occurrences. Of course one does not know this until 
they've had a chance to begin assembling the "jig saw puzzle" of the Fireball 
reports.  


Anyone who has investigated fireballs knows how "accurate" the information is in 
the reports and plotting them is is like putting together two commingled 
puzzles.  It is really difficult-- especially working on little sleep, to keep 
everything in orientation, perspective, focus and keep the stray details 
floating about one's mind  from getting things mixed up while everything gets 
juggled.  


It is more difficult when a report simply says "I saw it out my bedroom 
window".  Now... I may have been in a whole lot of bedrooms in my life  but , I 
certainly haven't slept in each and every one-- so the quandary I have is do I 
ask the lady to forgive my not knowing the details of her bed chambers and ask 
her for a GPS fix and azimuth or do I play along in the hopes she will drop some 
clues?

With all the demand for "data" and  now silence by some vocal parties, I thought 
this multiple fireball would be a significant  "Ah ha!!!"  once one enmeshed 
them self in the nitty gritty.  Not knowing there were apparent multiple 
fireball issues demonstrates that the bulk of the readership didn't look at 
squat-- choosing to rant on about philosophy rather than discuss evidence. 


The only conclusion I can draw from sampling the reports and reviewing the plots 
is that the people in the Western South usually know the compass direction their 
porch faces much better than the folks of the Northeast!  I'll keep this dataset 
supporting my judgment to myself however.

I am going to get some sleep and await any news from the ground search guys.

Elton






----- Original Message ----
> From: Robert Lunsford <lunro.imo.usa at cox.net>
> To: meteorobs at meteorobs.org
> Sent: Sat, March 26, 2011 5:56:02 PM
> Subject: (meteorobs) Two Fireballs on March 23rd from South-Central USA?
> 
> The American Meteor Society has received two reports mentioning the fact that  
>there were two fireball reports that evening, perhaps 
>
> 15-30 minutes apart,  visible from the same general region of the USA.
> 
> Debi from Granbury,  Texas mentions:
> 
> "Again, there were TWO fireballs - approximately 10...  -15 minutes apart - 
>that were spectacular to observe! The first was bigger, 
>
> more blue-white (I initially thought it was a helicopter i.e. CareFlight  
>strobe/light) & began its descent slightly more to the 
>
> West. (I lost  sight it only because of my neighbor's high-pitched roofline.) 
>The 2nd was  slightly smaller, a little lower in the 
>
> sky - a bit more to the NW, (seemed)  slightly faster, & had a "coppery" 
>greenish hue. Both had visible tails  during flight."
> 
> Chris (no location) mentions:
> 
> "Around 9:15 pm my  wife came to tell me she had just seen the meteor 
>previously mentioned. About 15  minutes later, we were out for a 
>
> smoke and together we witnessed a second  meteor fall in a perpendicular motion 
>from the first, in the same quadrant of  the northern 
>
> sky. From her account it was only slightly smaller than the  first and was just 
>as spectacular in tail and in color."
> 
> Fortunately we  have a report from frequent contributor James Beauchamp who 
>reports his Sentinel  Camera captured a fireball at 
>
> 21:21:02 CDT (02:21:02 UT on March 24th). I  believe this to be the second 
>fireball reported by the witnesses listed above.  We can 
>
> also count on the timing of James's event as reliable when compared  to 
>inexperienced witnesses. Since James operates an all-sky 
>
> camera, one  would think that his camera would also have also picked up on the 
>earlier event.  Perhaps the first event was too faint 
>
> to be recorded? This goes against the  statements of both witnesses who stated 
>the first event was  brighter.
> 
> Looking at the list of reports at: 
>http://www.amsmeteors.org/fireball2/public.php?start_date=2011-03-01&end_date=2011-03-31&state=&event_id=331&submit=Find+Reports
>s 
>
> reveals no clear break between the two possible events. This is to be  expected 
>with the normal large spread in timing with numerous 
>
> reports of the  same event. If I had to separate this list I would draw a line 
>between 21:10 and  21:15 CDT.
> 
> Looking at the first group with timings of 21:10 and earlier,  I would estimate 
>that the first fireball would have occurred near 
>
> 20:53 CDT.  This takes into fact that many witnesses estimate their times to 
>the nearest  five or fifteen minute interval.
> 
> We will update this possibility should  new information come to light...
> 
> Your comments are welcome!
> 
> Robert Lunsford
> American Meteor Society 
> 
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