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(meteorobs) Fwd: METEOR EXPLODES IN SKY ABOVE NEW ZEALAND
------- Forwarded Message
From: Benny J Peiser <b.j.peiser@livjm.acdot uk>
To: cambridge-conference@livjm.acdot uk
Subject: METEOR EXPLODES IN SKY ABOVE NEW ZEALAND
Date: Wed, 7 Jul 1999 14:16:10 -0400 (EDT)
METEOR EXPLODES IN SKY ABOVE NEW ZEALAND
(MODERATOR'S NOTE: TAURID METEOR STREAM MOST LIKELY CULPRIT)
>From CNN Interactive
http://cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/
July 7, 1999
Web posted at: 6:29 AM EDT (1029 GMT)
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- A meteor exploded in the sky
above New Zealand on Wednesday, casting an eerie blue light and
showering the earth with fragments from space, authorities and witnesses
said.
No injuries were reported, but authorities were flooded with hundreds
of calls from people who reported seeing the streaking meteor,
emergency services said.
The Carter Observatory in Wellington said the explosion occurred
about 4:15 p.m. (0615 GMT) and was followed by smoke in the sky _ and
a flood of phone calls from witnesses.
"It was picked up by aircraft and on radar, so we've had some air
traffic controllers calling too," said John Field, the observatory's
public programs officer.
Police said hundreds of people reported seeing a bright streak across
the sky over a remote part of New Zealand's North Island, between the
cities of Napier, 186 miles (300 kilometers) north of the capital,
Wellington, on the east coast and New Plymouth, about the same
distance from Wellington, on the west coast.
With a loud explosion, the meteor apparently broke up in the
atmosphere, leaving a vapor trail and blue cloud hanging in the sky,
the police spokesman said, on customary condition of anonymity.
Brendon Bradley, an instructor with the New Plymouth Aero Club, said
he was in the air when he saw the meteor streak over the top of his
plane. "It was just a bright light, exactly like a flare," he said.
"Afterwards there was smoke in the sky."
Other witnesses described a bright flash, followed by an explosion and a
cloud of brown smoke. "A big fiery ball came down. There was a
terrific red glow and it sort of went pop," said Eric Ray, a resident
of the town of Te Aroha. One man told police the explosion sounded
like a natural gas tanker igniting, the police spokesman said.
Field said the meteor could have been either metal or rock and was
probably as big a a car. A rock meteor would have broken up as it
came through the atmosphere and broken into a shower of stones, he
said. He said that throughout the world about one meteor falls to
Earth each week.
Police said reports of objects seen falling to the ground were received from
across the region. Night has since fallen, and there were no reports
of any pieces being found.
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.
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