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(meteorobs) Big Leonid Train Lit Up
In a resent private e-mail I realized I never related that the
big Leonid meteor on 16 Nov. '98, at 4h49m37sec, over San Diego
County, California, left a huge train that got lit up with another
meteor or perhaps an eletromagnetic discharge. All I can say is that
after I couldn't detect the train anymore, it became instantly visible
again several minutes later with light from within, just like a
thunderhead. I've never asked George Zay if he saw the train light up
too. He observes about fifty miles SE from me, so he may have seen a
meteor enter it or may have missed it while plotting another meteor. I
didn't see any sign of a meteor except for the "cloud" lighting up. Is
it possible that the ionized cloud could have caused high altitude
lighting?
I would like to know what GZ would have to say and if Robert
Lunsford may have seen this event. George did say this was a -16 to
-19 magnitude meteor and that the train lasted for 8 1/2 minutes and
the time listed was his. Either way, it was an unsual sighting.
Dave English
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