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Re: (meteorobs) Fireballs of Doom (thanks Wayne I kind of like
>Victor
>
>FOX News Network Story:
>
>Experts say flash of light across Midwest was a meteor 7.41 a.m. EST (1241
>GMT) December 13, 1997
>
>(AP) — A mysterious flash of light that prompted calls to authorities in
>four Midwestern states and led to a brief search for an overdue plane was
>probably caused by a meteor, experts said.
>
>The light — described by many as a glowing orange or red — was seen about 8
>p.m. CST Friday across hundreds of miles, from Minnesota and Wisconsin
>south into Iowa and northern Missouri.
>
>"It was a good-sized red ball,'' said Wylie Peterson of Colfax, Wis. "It
>had a pretty good tail behind it. It was too big to be a flare.''
>
>A search was organized after a private airplane was reported overdue at the
>Boyceville, Wis., airport. It was suspended after doubts were raised about
>whether the plane was missing and the meteor possibility was considered.
>
>Astronomy experts at the University of Minnesota and Drake University in
>Des Moines, Iowa, said the phenomenon was best explained by a single meteor
>burning through the Earth's atmosphere.
>
>Today marks the peak of the annual Germinid meteor shower.
Being the source of asteroid Phaethon, this would explain the meteoroids higher "rocky" density. As a result, Geminid meteors tend to appear with slighly longer durations than those of any other shower.
My question: Since Geminids are from a more asteroid than cometary source, has there ever been any confirmed meteorite recovered related directly to this shower and Phaethon?
Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario in the Great White North
Meteor observing and Graphic design