(meteorobs) FW: NJ crater in lawn Meteorite blamed

[Wayne Hally]

No tree was removed, and it's MUCH too large for any animal based event,
especially considering the 10-15 foot spray of dirt. . I have received an
additional 5 images from the police captain, and it seems like some unknown
gas ejection occurred. It was tested for explosive residue, none. All
utility lines are intact. There is NO sign of any heating of the material..
To create a trench of that length to width ratio any meteorite would have to
be moving at cosmic velocity nearly parallel to the ground. I'm 99.999% sure
it is not meteoric, but haven't the foggiest idea what could have caused it.
The head of the local college planetarium was there the last 2 days digging
at the site, with metal detectors as well, nothing was found. Of course,
like most astronomers, meteoritics and meteorics are not his specialty.  I
have spoken to the homeowners and they have invited me to stop by, but the
site has surely been rendered useless for forensic analysis by now, though I
will bring my super magnet and have a look.
Still waiting to hear back from the school about the seismic "event".

Wayne

-----Original Message-----
From: meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org
[mailto:meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org] On Behalf Of Marc Fries
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 5:53 PM
To: Global Meteor Observing Forum
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) FW: NJ crater in lawn Meteorite blamed

Looks like a dog vs. ground squirrel event.


On 5/11/11 1:38 PM, Jim Pettit wrote:
> I had suspected  perhaps a hastily-removed tree, but I looked at the 
> house in Google Earth and Bing, and see no evidence of shrubbery where 
> the "crater" is. (Unfortunately, Google's Street-View cameras haven't 
> been down that particular road, so Bing's bird's eye view gives the 
> most detail.) I have no ideas what caused this, either, though I'd be 
> willing to bet every cent I have that it isn't meteoritic in origin.
>
> --Jim
>