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RE: (meteorobs) New Member Peter Stinson & Request for Info...
I want to thank everyone for their advice and comments concerning meteors
and flares... quite frankly, I've not yet had time to digest it all... I
have nearly emails which I need to re-read carefully and begin to figure out
what's up... I appreciate the insight and will attempt to reply to some of
the various questions asked... and I hope to be able to somehow use all the
data... You should note, however, that you've already got me thinking
"outside the box" in terms of SAR prosecution (more on that below)...
Someone wondered just how large this problem of false flare sightings might
be for the Coast Guard. In 1992-94 (the most recent data I could put my
hands on quickly), the Fifth Coast Guard District (northern New Jersey south
through the Chesapeake Bay to the North Carolina/South Carolina boarder)
prosecuted a total of 743 flare cases. Of those, 11 were confirmed distress
and another 211 were closed (the source of the flare was actually
confirmed.. fireworks on the beach, somebody "testing" a flare... by the by,
don't "test" your flares...). For all the rest of the sightings -- that's
521 sightings! -- the source of the flare was never found... in each one of
those cases we searched at night and 361 times also searched at first light
(usually with a helicopter). I'm not sure how many of those "suspended"
cases could have been meteors or other stuff falling from the sky, but my
guess would be many of them... And, I'm not sure how many of them might be
"hoax" flares (someone firing a flare as a hoax); my guess is that most of
the people who call us to tell us they saw a flare actually saw something...
I don't think we get many hoax calls (they never saw anything but just want
to spin us up), which is a different issue, but I could be wrong...
In my earlier email, I talked about the "fist method" of determining the
angle of elevation of the object sighted... in terms of the fist method, one
fist is 8 degrees (a knuckle is 2 degrees)...
On my last watch (22 June 1999) I received a report of a flare approximately
1500NM east of the Virginia Capes, USA. The first reporting source, a
35-meter motor yacht, sighted a flare while in position 37-03.6N 045-40.6W
at 0145 UTC on the 23rd. The flare was "bright red" and seen to only
fall... the bearing of the flare was 120 degrees true (+/- 30 degrees) and
was sighted first relatively high on the horizen (3-6 "fists")... the first
reporting source stated that the rate of descent was "slow" and was seen for
5-8 seconds... the flare kept it's color all the way, burning steady (bright
red)... this reporting source stated that there was a thin tail (not too
long, also bright red)... neither reporting source noted any noise (although
the first reporting source was on a loud motor yacht)... the second
reporting source was on a 39-foot sailing vessel only 3NM away from the
first reporting source; they only saw the flare for several seconds and it
was close to the horizen... both reporting sources searched for nearly 12
hours; I diverted two merchant vessels who also searched; and, I launched a
Coast Guard C-130 Hercules aircraft for several hours of searching... and I
contacted SPACECOM to see if I could correlate with something falling out of
the sky (that was my out-of-the-box thinking... thanks to whomever suggested
it)... we didn't find anything. I've placed, at the bottom of this email,
the official "summary" of the case...
Oh, and one more thing... please don't worry about us not searching for red
flares... a couple of people thought that I might be looking for reasons not
to search... no, those of us in the Coast Guard are "SAR dogs," if every
there were any; we live to get underway and help people... I'm just trying
to make me, and the other controllers, a little smarter... if it even
remotely looks like a flare, we're launching... my only hope is to somehow,
some way, use all this "stuff" to help correlate sightings with known debris
or meteors... (not that that would actually make it so we don't launch... it
would just reduce the level of concern...)
Well, enough of being off topic about maritime distress flares... I'll
return to watching the skies for meteors... ;-)
Thanks for all the input; and, if anyone has any other advice for me, please
don't hesitate to sent it my way...
Fair winds, following seas, & (now) clear skies,
/s/ Peter
SAR: 1 RED FLARE -- 1500NM E OF CAPE HENRY, VA (230023Q):
The M/Y TEJATI reported one red flare 1500NM east of Cape Henry, VA. The
flare was also seen by a S/V SERENITY within close proximity of the M/Y
TEJATI. Both vessels conducted visual and aural searches with negative
results. Two AMVER vessels were diverted to search the area as they
transited through. An AIRSTA ECITY C-130 was used used to perform multiple
searches of the area in excellent conditions. All searches yielded negative
results. Extensive investigative efforts were initiated which included
contact with SPACECOM and solicitations to neighboring RCC's for any
correlating information. A review of all records was requested from the
USMCC and the Canadian MCC to determine if any correlating SARSAT activity
may have occurred in the area. All efforts to develop more information were
fruitless. Active Search Suspended Pending Further Developments.
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