reported by meteordetective
INITIAL POSTING: Mon-07-Mar-2016: 07:20GMT
Update 6) Tue 08-Mar-2015, 19:35Z
A video of what might be a third event at 21:45 Pacific has been posted to Youtube on XenonRocket's Channel. I'm unable (no e-mail address available) to contact the YouTuber directly, but here's the embedded video. According to the directions & location provided, the meteor seems to be travelling NE->SW.
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Update 5) Tue-08-Mar-2015, 05:00Z
Overnight, I had a witness from the Dallas event e-mail me a full set of answers to the Sightings Questionnaire, which was invaluable in assessing the Texas sighting of 20:45 Central Time on Sunday 6-March-2016.
It would appear to have been a large bolide (-4 mag.) travelling South-North on a moderate descending trajectory. The witness described the bolide as "Light orange in front with blue long tail. Very blue almost totally round in front then narrowing tail. Not like a far away shooting star." Note the use of the word "round". With regard to size, the witness states that it was: "Rounded front part was about size of thumb" (at arm's length), so the bolide was clearly large in size.
I'm still struggling to find any photos or videos of the event, so if you should find any, please let me know?
Thank you.
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Update 4) Mon-07-Mar-2015, 19Z43.
Second confirmation that the 8:15 pm is a distinct and separate (and I believe to be space-trash at this point) event - compared to the slightly later 20:26 event (which looks like a proper fireball). Second witness suggests that the space-trash landed east of route 101 - after coming-in at a steep angle.
No media coverage??
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Update 3) Mon-07-Mar-2016, 18Z53.
Well, it seems that at least one of the California events was something man-made re-entering our atmosphere. I've also had a report by e-mail of a potentially earlier event - around 8:10pm Pacific Time. Here's the first video I've seen of what I strongly suspect is NOT a meteor/meteorite (at least for one of the California sightings).
Posted to Youtube by "Turtle Poster": 645 views.
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Update 2) Mon-07-Mar-2016, 09:10 GMT
The first video has surfaced on YouTube.
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Update 1 ) Mon-07-Mar-2016, 08:26 GMT
It looks like 2 events, 2 hours apart. Initial reports are that the California fireball' was very large, although the 15-20 seconds sighting-length of the CA event suggests space-trash? More data needed, please!
a) Texas, 20:45 Central Time / 02:45GMT
b) California, 20:25 Pacific Time / 04:25 GMT
I've checked by telephone with Vandenburg AF Base and they were not aware of any launches etc.
AMS' pending queue does not reflect the traffic that LunarMeteoriteHunters has been receiving, but AMS has both events in pending status.
END UPDATE
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Website traffic & a couple of e-mails suggest that there's been a major event over California USA on Sunday evening at +/- 8:30PM local time, with a second report from Dallas, TX for a similar time (don't know whether the events are related/same at this point).
If you witnessed this event and/or have images / video which you are happy to be posted (with credit) here on Lunar Meteorite Hunters website/blog, then please e-mail meteordetective@gmail.com with the following information, if possible.
1) Time and location of sighting
2) Angle from observer to the object in the sky - i.e. 90 deg. = overhead to 0 deg. = ground-level.
3) Estimated elevation/height of the object(s)
4) Apparent direction of travel: decent angle (e.g. 45 deg. down) + azimuth (N to S etc)
5) Estimated size of the object(s) - using your thumb/thumbnail at arm's length as a comparison.
6) Velocity: How many seconds to cross what portion (e.g. 1/2) of the sky
7) Brightness - (see http://www.icq.eps.harvard.edu/MagScale.html for specific examples).
8) Fragmentation?
9) Sound?
10) Colour(s)?
11) Smell in the air?
12) Impact or shockwave damage?
Thank you for your contributions and information. My intention is to post more information, along with the best images & videos - once I have more detail.
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