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(meteorobs) Meteor-Like Object Seen In India

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2003 10:11 AM
To: debris-locators@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [debris-locators] Meteor-Like Object Seen In
India

http://66.234.3.46/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2003/February/theuae_February370.xml&section=theuae

Meteor-like object seen in Sharjah
By
Tarek Fleihan, Meraj Rizvi, Zaigham Ali & Hani Bathish


Khaleej Times Online (India)
27 February 2003 

SHARJAH - In what could be described as a rare
celestial spectacle, a meteor-like fiery object was
seen shooting across the skies in Sharjah and was
incidentally captured on tape for over four minutes by
Talal Hajjar, a student of the American University of
Sharjah (AUS), at around 6:30pm yesterday.

'I was driving by the men's dormitory when I pulled
over after noticing this huge ball of fire streaking
across the sky along a sharp axis towards the East at
great speed and my first impression was that may be it
was a common occurrence,' said Mr Talal, recounting
his first reaction. 'But something told me that it was
extraordinary, and I ran back to the car and pulled
out my camera, which I was carrying because of the
Mass Communication Media filming project and the 
constant pressure from my teacher Professor Beagalow,'
said Mr Talal excitedly.

The meteorological offices in Dubai and Sharjah said
that the available satellite pictures suggest no
unusual activity in the skies. 'This sort of thing is
too small to register on a satellite picture, more so 
because at one particular time, we cover a limited
area,' said one weatherman.

According to a geological expert in the UAE, the
falling object, if it did fall to the ground, would
have created enough vibrations to be picked up by a
seismograph, the instrument used to detect
earthquakes. [ed.- not likely; possibly the sonic
boom]
He said that the falling object either did not reach
the ground and just burnt up in the sky, or if it did
reach the ground it fell in the sea.

From the fiery orange tail and the speed of its
descent, estimated by an amateur astronomer to be over
Mach 20, among the explanations produced is that it is
either space debris or a large meteorite.


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