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(meteorobs) Meteors suspected in strange case of blazing hay sheds.
From "The Scotsman" 19 Nov
IT SOUNDS like a case for the X-Files team. But it is a Scottish fire brigade
which is trying to get to the bottom of a mysterious blaze which may have
extraterrestrial origins.
Investigators examining a fire in farm outbuildings near Selkirk say the
damage may have been caused by a meteorite strike.
Preliminary inquiries revealed the fatal spark could have come from a shooting
star crashing into the farm's hay sheds.
A couple who watched the spectacular Leonid meteor storm caused by the
Tempel-Tuttle comet early on Tuesday claimed an object fell from the sky and
hit the ground, where it exploded on impact.
Firefighters thought at first that the blaze at High Sunderland Farm, near
Selkirk, had been started maliciously. But after learning of the couple's
sighting they were forced to reconsider their reports of the incident.
Tom Munro, of Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade and the station commander at
Galashiels, was one of the first on the scene.
He said: "This was an extremely strange incident and it is one we are being
forced to keep very open minds about.
"When I got there, the barns had been all but destroyed. I searched the barns
looking for bones - to see if it had been started by someone sleeping rough
inside - or other signs of a malicious cause.
"I later learned, via the police, of the reported meteor strike. I then
remembered kicking a football-shaped object with my boot, which I had
disregarded at the time. It had a metallic appearance and had split in half.
Fire investigators later went back but could not find anything among the mud
and other debris."
Professor John Brown, the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, based at Glasgow
University, said: "This is certainly a fascinating account. It is perfectly
possible the cause of the fire could have been a meteorite."
Graham Rule, the secretary of the Edinburgh Astronomical Society, said:
"Usually in Leonid showers the debris is no bigger than grains, but it is
entirely feasible that a chunk of something bigger has come to earth.
"Seconds before impact it was probably glowing red hot, so it is likely that
if it hit something like a hay shed, a fire would have been the result."
Alastair McBeath, the vice president of the International Meteor Organisation
and the co-ordinator of the meteor section of the Society for Popular
Astronomy, said he had seen several bright meteors in the skies above the
north of England during the Leonid storm.
He said: "The vital thing is to secure the object and very quick checks will
establish if it is of extra terrestrial origin.
"Leonids do produce a lot of bright meteors and I have never seen so many in a
single night, and many were exceptionally bright.
"However, meteorites tend to be very hot on the outer crust when they enter
the atmosphere but then cool down as they free fall for the remaining 30 or 40
kilometres."
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