(meteorobs) UARS Sat re-entry

Mon Sep 26 01:55:35 EDT 2011

Hi Bruce, all,

Daylight Saving time confused me a bit but your comment straightens 
that out.

As you point out it is probably nothing, but it might be the seed that 
some enterprising, crafty prankster picked up and fed the beast... If 
the observation is true and not a local joke it might just be 
interesting as a simple observation just to know get the whole history 
straight in case that chance forum post was the seed to the mess that 
followed.  After all,. this is a new level of *ehhh* a sort of history 
in the making.

I hate cross posting especially since the list has been "invaded" by 
meteorite people lately and this list is usually less spirited for lack 
of a better word, but I might as well for those who are interested and 
haven't been tipped off yet:

Cross-post from the meteorite-list:

Listees, with kindest wishes, Doug:

One more comment on Okotoks, Alberta, Canada for those of you who who
can find a lighter side of this:

The tweet that started making the rounds claiming debris was found in
Okotoks, supposedly a local reporter accompanied by a professor:

Here is the text of the Friday night tweets that started the hoax,
originally by "imnotgonnalie2u":

"Reporter Carl Phillips on the scene near Okotoks, AB, #UARS debris
found at the Wilmuth Farm.
24 Sep
Carl Phillips Reporting - Professor Pierson and myself made the eleven
miles from Calgary in ten minutes. #UARS #okotoks
24 Sep
Carl Phillips, reporter on scene, "half buried in a vast pit. Must have
struck with terrific force." #UARS #okotoks
24 Sep
Carl Phillips reporting, "The ground is covered with splinters of a
tree it must have struck on its way down." #UARS #Okotoks
24 Sep"

And, here are excerps from the "War of the Worlds" radio story when the
Martians invaded, from 1938:

ANNOUNCER TWO: We are now ready to take you to the Princeton
Observatory at Princeton where Carl Phillips, our commentator, will
interview Professor Richard Pierson, famous astronomer. We take you now
to Princeton, New Jersey.

(CROWD NOISES . . . POLICE SIRENS)

PHILLIPS: Ladies and gentlemen, this is Carl Phillips again, at the
Wilmuth farm, Grovers Mill, New Jersey. Professor Pierson and myself
made the eleven miles from Princeton in ten minutes. Well, I . . . I
hardly know where to begin, to paint for you a word picture of the
strange scene before my eyes, like something out of a modern "Arabian
Nights." Well, I just got here. I haven't had a chance to look around
yet. I guess that's it. Yes, I guess that's the . . . thing, directly
in front of me, half buried in a vast pit. Must have struck with
terrific force. The ground is covered with splinters of a tree it must
have struck on its way down. What I can see of the . . . object itself
doesn't look very much like a meteor, at least not the meteors I've
seen. It looks more like a huge cylinder. It has a diameter of . . .
what would you say, Professor Pierson?

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce McCurdy <bmccurdy at shaw.ca>
To: 'Meteor science and meteor observing' <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>; 
epmajden <epmajden at shaw.ca>
Sent: Mon, Sep 26, 2011 1:35 am
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) UARS Sat re-entry

I was out observing for the UARS on Friday night from the observatory at
Telus World of Science Edmonton (~ 53.5 °  N, 113.5 ° W). That is about 
300
km north of Okotoks, AB; the entire province is in Mountain Daylight 
Time,
or UTC minus 6 hours. For us in Edmonton the scheduled passes were at 
22:22
MDT at about 20 degrees altitude in the south, then 23:52 and 01:22 at
similar altitudes in the north (near the northern extent of UARS orbit, 
with
its 57 ° inclination). There were a good number of public and a half 
dozen
or more experienced astronomers present for the first pass, and three
veteran astronomers for the last two.

The key pass would seem to be the first one at 22:22 - NOT 21:15 but 
fully
an hour later. That time simply does not match up with the report from
"Madman".

We saw nothing* at any of the three times. We looked for several minutes
before and after the nominal pass times due to the unknown effects of 
the
decaying nature of the orbit, and if anything would have expected to see
something at lower altitudes than those projected.

(*Two of our group saw an unusual meteor low in the south about 10 
minutes
ahead of the pass, but its direction was not consistent with satellite
debris.)

I heard of a report from Alan Dyer who lives near Okotoks that he too 
was
observing under good conditions and saw nothing. While I haven't
communicated with him directly, Alan is a friend of mine of long 
standing
and I know him to be an extremely experienced and conscientious 
observer. I
will take his observation over that of any "Madman" 10 days out of 10.

I can follow up with Alan Dyer if that would help. I also have 
connections
with hockey forums (though not that one) and could possibly track down
"Madman".

Bruce
*****

-----Original Message-----
From: meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org
[mailto:meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org] On Behalf Of MexicoDoug
Sent: September-25-11 10:13 PM
To: meteorobs at meteorobs.org; epmajden at shaw.ca
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) UARS Sat re-entry

Hi Ed, all,

Yes - Too bad for the apparently false alarm pranksters, the amount of 
folks
nowadays with information that previously was available to only the 
select
diehards is now so well distributed that this is the way things are 
headed -
"el mitote".

If a kind Canadian can check this out by contacting "Madman" in this 
Local
Calgary Hockey forum, it's the first mention online of any observations 
in
that area I saw at the time (Friday night), and additionally it 
mentions an
observation from Okotoks by name ... and it might have been before the 
Tweet
that apparently started this all off;
#86 in their thread and is apparently from a local at the site.

Text from the post with date stamp:

"09-23-2011, 09:21 PM    #86
Madman
So I just saw very fast moving major blue streak east of Okotoks at 
9:15. It
wasn't like any type of shooting star I've ever seen. "

Ref:
http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?p=3293019

I wonder if it was a hoax by intention or if it just a big "mitote"
(sorry I don't know the English word - but it's sort of things that 
become
alive because of miscommunications within large groups)

The crater business was apparently started by a bunch of Australians 
while
Canada was asleep...

Kindest wishes
Doug

-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Majden <epmajden at shaw.ca>
To: Meteor science and meteor observing <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
Sent: Sun, Sep 25, 2011 10:54 pm
Subject: (meteorobs) UARS Sat re-entry

	We have no reports from the B.C. and Alberta All-sky  Networks
recording anything from this event.  Much of B.C. was overcast but Dr.
Alan Hildebrand said skies were clear over Alberta.  Looks like the 
reports
of something falling south of Calgary was a hoax.  To bad people make 
such
reports as it just confuses the issue.

Ed Majden
EMO Sandia All-sky Station
Courtenay, B.C.
CANADA
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