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(meteorobs) Re: Meteorite strikes Indian village - injuries and fires reported


----- Original Message -----
From: <LOOKIN4ET@aol.com>

> This one sounds like a "Hollywood meteor."  Any chance this was a possible
> reentry event instead?  Nothing on SeeSat-L yet.
>

Hi Cinde,

The same question popped up on the meteorite central mailinglist yesterday,
and in response I mailed the following message:

"The NASA OIG server does not list a decay for September 27th. It does list
a decay for the 28th, with no further details given, of a (probably small)
object of unknown origin designated as 2003-042J, NORAD # 27947.
I checked with the last orbit but this object did not pass over India around
the time of this big fireball, it was passing over the Bering Strait and
Kamchatka at that time and then through to Japan and Indonesia and Australia
in the next half hour (it did pas over eastern India 2 revolutions later,
which is about 3 hours later), so it is not a likely candidate. No other
decay being listed around this date, the conclusion is that it was probably
not a satellite decay but a meteoric fireball."

Current news messages about what happened in India are a bit confusing and
perhaps we should allow for some touch of wild imagination in some aspects
of the story. Some reports state "small injuries", others talk of
"casualties". That's quite a difference.
It appears however that at least one stone of about 5 kg has
been recovered according to the latest news messages:
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=32461
This, If I understand correct, was however not in the village where a
thatched roof cottage was
burned down (and someone alledgedly died as a result), so
perhaps the latter is unrelated or remotely related (e.g. maybe someone
panicking from the fireball knocked over a fire pot - who knows).
We should beware because all this info is from widely varying news reports
so far, which usually are not that reliable as to what really happened. It
seems to be a possible real meteorite fall though.

- Marco






> Thanks,
>
> Cinde Costello
> MUFON-San Bernardino County
> So. California, USA
>
> http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/south/09/28/india.meteorite/
>
> Meteorite strikes Indian village
> Sunday, September 28, 2003 Posted: 1108 GMT ( 7:08 PM HKT)
>
> Meteors usually burn up in the intense heat of entering the Earth's
> atmosphere.
>
>
> BHUBANESWAR, India -- Two people have been injured and several homes badly
> damaged by a suspected meteorite crashing into a village in eastern India,
> reports said Sunday.
>
> The fiery object crashed to earth shortly after sunset Saturday in the
> coastal state of Orissa, the Press Trust of India reported.
>
> Witnesses reported a bright fireball briefly lighting up the night sky and
> causing panic among local residents, the PTI report said.
>
> Reports from several districts described an ear spitting noise that
shattered
> several windows as the object sped overhead.
>
> At least one part of the fireball came down in a village in Mayurbhanj
> district, setting several homes alight and lightly injuring at least two
people.
>
> The report said other parts of the suspected meteorite may have crashed
into
> another village, also setting at least one thatched house ablaze.
>
> Officials in the area have been asked to collect any remaining samples of
the
> object for scientific analysis.
>
> The PTI quoted local meteorological and space experts as saying the object
> was most likely a meteor.
>
> Hundreds of small objects strike the Earth's atmosphere every day,
creating
> what are commonly known as shooting stars or, more properly, meteors.
>
> However, all but a few burn up or explode well before they hit the ground
as
> a result of the friction caused by entering the Earth's atmosphere at
speeds
> in excess of 10,000 kilometers an hour.
>
> Those few rocks that do survive the fiery journey are known as meteorites.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> http://www.abcdot net.au/news/newsitems/s955379.htm
>
> Last Update: Sunday, September 28, 2003. 9:53pm (AEST)
> Meteor causes panic in east India
>
> At least 20 people have been injured after a meteor broke up and crashed
to
> earth in the eastern Indian state of Orissa.
>
> Reports say hundreds of villagers panicked when a fireball streamed across
> the night sky near the Bay of Bengal spreading flaming fragments over a
wide
> area.
>
> Witnesses say that for a few seconds night turned to day as the fireball
lit
> up the sky.
>
> Others reported hearing a deafening roar as it passed over head.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------
>
> http://www.kirotv.com/print/2516322/detail.html?use=print
>
> KIROTV.com
> Galactic Fireball Sparks India Panic
> One Person Hurt, Two Others Faint
> POSTED: 2:52 p.m. EDT September 28, 2003
>
>
> BHUBANESHWAR, India -- Panic in a village in eastern India is being blamed
on
> a galactic fireball.
>
> A meteor roared to earth Saturday, lighting up the nighttime sky and
sending
> villagers fleeing their homes in panic. Remnants of it burned down two
houses.
> One person was injured and two others apparently fainted.
>
> A spokesman for an Indian planetarium says meteors usually burn up before
> hitting the ground and says this one may have been usually large.
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