Showing posts with label Pennsylvania. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pennsylvania. Show all posts

24 June 2014

500-Ton Asteroid Airburst Near Pittsburgh, Penn. June 24, 1938 - 76 yrs Ago / video

CAMERAS READY?
June 24, 1938 - 500-Ton Asteroid Airburst Near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - FEMA Region III 
- Chicora "Airavata" Meteor
76 Years Ago
Airavata is a mythological white elephant who carries the Hindu god Indra. It is also called 'abhra-Matanga', meaning "elephant of the clouds";
Image and Text Credit - Wikipedia

Chicora Meteor - Pennsylvania Airburst Event 1938 - 12 miles above the Earth
500 tons, 1000000 pounds, is roughly the weight of 83 adult elephants (one adult white elephant weighs approximately 12,000 pounds) ! The  Airavata  meteor or "white elephant" meteor - abhra-Matanga, means the "elephant of the clouds".
LuanrMeteoriteHunter...Tokyo

Posted on YouTube by nemesis maturity 180 views

On June 24, 1938 a meteorite fell in the vicinity of Chicora, Pennsylvania. Named the "Chicora Meteor", the 450+ tonne meteor exploded approximately twelve miles above the Earth's surface. Only two fragments of the meteorite were found following initial investigations. They had masses 242g and 61g, and were discovered some miles short of the calculated point of impact of the main mass - which is yet to be found. Two more small fragments were found nearby in 1940.

Numerous reports of the Chicora Meteor mention that a cow was struck and injured by a falling stone; other accounts say that the cow was in fact killed by the stone.

The meteor was an olivine-hypersthene chondrite. Its remains were split between the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institution.

The sound and light of the exploding meteor were initially mistaken for an explosion in the powder magazine at West Winfield, and was compared by investigators FW Preston, EP Henderson and James R Randolph as comparable to with the Halifax explosion of 1917 in destructive power. "If it had landed on Pittsburgh there would have been few survivors", they stated. 
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicora,_Pennsylvania

Catalogue of Meteorites, Fifth Edition, Monica M. Grady, The Natural History Museaum, London , 2000
Entry pg. 143 - - Chicora, Butler County, Pennsylvania, USA / Fall / LL6
"The mass fell some miles short of the calculated point of impact and the main mass may yet be found.  From the smoke and energy considerations the total mass is calculated to be 519 tons."

Book Reference-
Chicora (Butler County, Pa.) Meteorite
United States National Museum, James R. Randolph, Edward Porter Henderson, F. W. Preston
1968 - 35 pages

Meteoritical Bulletin Database-
NameStatusFallYearPlaceTypeMassGoogle
Earth

(click on a Name for more information)
ChicoraOfficialY1938Penn.LL6303 gGoogle Earth 

Newspaper Article-
Few recall "meteor that nearly destroyed Pittsburgh"
The Pittsburgh Press, June 19, 1988
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19880619&id=X94cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VmMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1934,1423185

Chicora Meteor originally posted- 24JUN2009
http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.jp/2009/06/pennsylvania-meteormeteorite-history.html

Historical Meteorite Falls for the month of JUNE-
http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.fi/2009/06/historical-meteorite-falls-from-month.html

2014 The Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™; Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

26 September 2011

Ontario, Quebec, Canada / New York, MASS,, Pennsylvania, Maine, Vermont Bolide Meteor 25SEP2011

MBIQ Indicates Meteor Ontario, Quebec, Canada / New York, Vermont Meteor 25SEP2011

Averill Park, NY (near Albany) Meteor Sighting ~11:48 pm 25SEP2011
I was outside walking my dogs around 11:48 PM and saw what I first thought was a shooting star. I kept watching it and it got brighter and orange in color. It had a tail that turned a greenish/whitish color as it crossed the sky over the trees. What did I see??? -Autum Pylant Thank you Autum!

Hazleton, Pa Hugh Ball of Blue Green Meteor ~11:49 pm 25SEP2011
I live in Hazleton Pa. and at appox 11:49 pm in the sky looking north I saw a hugh ball of blue green with a silver and orange trail I yelled into the kids I just saw a falling star then thinking that was hugh it had to be a meteor. I am wondering exactly what I did see it traveled from north to east in a down word motion. -Cathy  Thank you Cathy!

Nepean (Ottawa), Ontario Canada Bright Green Fireball ~11:45 pm EST 25SEP2011
I live in Nepean, Ontario, a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario Canada. At about 11:45 p.m. EST on September 25, 2011, I took my dog out for a walk in front of my house, which overlooks an empty field. As I was standing across the street with my dog, I observed a very bright green fireball fall from the sky to the south east. It fell in a completely straight trajectory and lasted about 5 seconds before it appeared to reduce to sparks/cinders. I am unsure if this was a meteor as I don't recall hearing any news releases about meteor showers for this time of year. Anyways, I thought you might be interested. Thanks, Jamie Warren Thank you Jamie!


Hog Island, Tabor Point, Wanton, VT 11:43 pm 9 25 2011
Viewed large blue light plummet straight down. So bright viewed clearly from living room picture window. Thought perhaps a plane went down. Hopefully just a large meteor. -Phaegeoux  
Thank you Phaegeoux!


Montreal, Quebec Canada Meteor September 25th, at 11:50 p.m. EST
I was walking in Westmount Park at 11:50 about and I looked up and saw this huge fireball with a very long fiery tail. At the end of the tail you could see debris blowing up into nothingness. I have seen many meteors in my 52 years of living, but this was the biggest and weirdest one of all. just mainly because of the amount of exploding debris behind the long fiery tail.. It also seemed to be moving much slower than most other Meteors I have seen.
I am convinced it was not a shooting star at all. It was more like something falling and coming apart in the sky. Anyhow September 25th, at 11:50 p.m. EST -Paul Gallant  Thank you Paul!

Maidstone Lake,Vermont
About 11:45 at Maidstone lake,Vermont. Saw bright fireball,going northwest to southeast, white/yellow with blue too. Dark mass at front, fire tail ended w-sparks, lasted 3 seconds. Very impressive! -Mari  Thank you Mari!

Montréal Québec, Canada
J’ai constaté au dessus de Montréal (Québec, Canada) qu’une météorite est passée à 23h44 (heure avancée de l’est).
Sa direction était sud-est, elle était très brillante, principalement verte et visible pendant plus de 2 secondes. -Luc  Merci!


Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont.
The bright meteor arrived at 23:45 (+/- 1 minute) pm and it was green, with a bit of red light on the front edge.  It was bright, way brighter than any planets observable. It was approximately going from west to east. -Zijian  Xie-Xie Nin!


North Attleboro, MA large green meteor 11:38 pm EST 9/25/2011
I was sitting on my porch here in North attleboro, MA smoking a cigarette when I saw what I am guessing to be a large green meteor. It was over my neighbors house going northward. The size to me looked to be that of a minivan. It had a light green glow outside that got darker as it went in. It was teardrop shaped. This occured around 11:38 pm EST 9/25/2011. I have been researching as to what it might have been since and came across your e-mail. It had to have been somewhat low flying as the glow was on my neighbor across the streets roof. There are no street lights in my area so saw it very clearly. There was no sound either which I thought odd. Figured I would shoot you an e-mail as it seems this might be what your tracking. 
from the mind of -Christopher L Burns  Thank you Christopher


East Greenbush NY 11:48PM 9/25/11
At about 11:48 last night I was walking my dog and saw a burning object to the Northeast from my location travel from left to right. Weather conditions were very hazy as a heavy fog was setting in. It was low and traveled above the Horizon line changing from blue to green to red. What a fantastic sight! We had just been discussing these on Saturday night as I had seen one 6 Months ago that was crackling and popping as it traveled. Weird that I see an impressive one the next night. What are these Meteors? -Daniel F Bazinet  Thank you Daniel!

Farmington, Maine
My friends and I saw I giant meteor in the woods last night in Farmington, Maine. It was very bright, blue/green in color, definitely the largest meteor any of us had ever seen. -Kyle M.  
Thank you Kyle!


Corinth, NY
I saw the meteor last night at around 11:45pm, I was driving home on route 9N in Corinth, NY. It started small at first, and I thought it was just an average shooting star. As it travelled it got much bigger, and I could see all different colors in the tail and what looked like sparks flying off it. It lasted between 5 and 10 seconds, and traveled in a south-east direction. -Nicole  
Thank you Nicole!


Richmond, Maine Meteor With Sound ~11:55 PM Sept. 25 
Loud noise as something passed overhead, a roar loud as thunder that I could feel in my body like a car stereo with realy loud bass.I ran outside and saw a red light up in the sky then nothing as the tall trees obscured my view. The sound was incredible and had a low-frequency grind/rumble that cycled every few seconds even after the main noise had died away minutes after the comet passed. I had some friends in south Gardiner who hear it at the same time.It was going northeast to southwest. I am trying to find people around here who saw it better. Up north in someone saw it in West Paris, Maine at 11:40, about ten minutes before me. Other people felt ground tremors up in Bangor, Maine at 11:40 and then witnessed a fireball. Are we having fun yet?
Pete Lund -Thank you Pete!

MBIQ Data:
Ottawa, Ontario arrived from google.ca on "Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News" by searching for fireball over eastern ontario sept 25 2011.
12:55:41 -- 20 seconds ago

Scarborough, Ontario arrived from ca.search.yahoo.com on "Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News" by searching for meteorite september 26, 2011.
12:54:44 -- 1 minute ago

Waterbury, Vermont arrived from google.com on "Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News: MA NY NJ CT PA ME VT MD Quebec, Canada Large Meteor Fireball 30APR2011" by searching for vermont meteorite tonight.
12:53:03 -- 3 minutes ago

Montreal, Quebec arrived from google.ca on "Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News" by searching for fireball falls from sky montreal september 25.
12:52:31 -- 4 minutes ago

We need your sighting reports:
Date and Time of event? Location name (town,city) where you were when saw the meteor? Start and Stop location in sky? Direction of movement? Duration of Event (seconds)? Brightness ( in comparison with Venus, Moon, Sun) color, sounds? Photos? Videos? please email LunarMeteoriteHunter@gmail.com Your reports make it possible for all to check what they saw as well. Thank you! 2011 The Year of Meteors!

07 July 2009

East Coast US Bolide News- Fireball with Explosion 6JUL09 7JUL09

Large Boom, Flash Of Light Seen In Night Sky Likely A 'Fireball'

WGAL Channel 8

POSTED: 12:17 pm EDT July 6, 2009
UPDATED: 6:20 pm EDT July 6, 2009

A number of viewers throughout the Susquehanna Valley have contacted News 8 about a bright light they saw in the night sky, and an explosion they heard and felt early Monday morning (01:05~01:10EDT).

States with reports include: Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland.

VIDEO: VIDEO: Witness Describes Light In Sky As 'Phosphorous Green Fireball'

Whole Story: http://www.wgal.com/news/19966650/detail.html

Other Reports:

A Mason-Dixon meteor?

The Baltimore Sun
http://weblogs.marylandweather.com/2009/07/a_masondixon_meteor.html Comments (47)

The York Dispatch: In York County, Pa., police officers from Penn Township, Southwestern Regional and Newberry Township reported seeing a flash and hearing a boom around 1:15 a.m. Monday, July 6, according to local 911 centers. Officials in Harford County, Md. also reported seeing a flash and hearing a boom near the Mason-Dixon Line. Read comments

http://yorkdispatch.inyork.com/ci_12758435

Capital Gazette: An Annapolis city police officer reported that she and her partner both saw what she described as a "bright blue light in the sky" just after midnight. It was followed by "a light with a tail, falling from the sky," according to our informant. Annapolis police reported hearing a similar report on Baltimore County police radio.

Gary Moon, reporting to The Sun's News Tips: "I heard and felt a deep earth blast similar to an earthquake, which shook my home in Glen Rock, Pa., early Monday morning. I thought I would hear MUCH more about this one ... nothing."

Deborah Markow, Havre de Grace: "Last night, couldn't sleep, went out on back deck, laid on lounge, eyes closed and then it was like someone pointed a flash light in my eyes it was so bright. I saw another one streak through the sky ... It was one of the most thrilling sights to behold a ball of fire flying through the sky."