05 December 2010

Colorado; Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas Bolide Meteor Fireballs 3DEC2010 Witnesses Meteor/Meteorite News 5DEC2010

Readers Reports for 3DEC2010 Meteor -
 Colorado Meteor 18:30 MST /// Kansas- Oklahoma- Arkansas Meteor 23:00 CST

If any video becomes available it will be posted.  Those with additional information are encouraged to comment or email drtanuki@gmail.com  IF anyone has photos or videos please contact ASAP.  Thank you.  LunarMeteorite*Hunter

COLORADO 6:30pm 3DEC2010 Reports:
Colorado Springs, CO approx. 6:30 pm Friday, Dec 3
Simona wrote, Just a quick note as I saw this incredible meteor on Friday night (12/3) & the website I had told about it still hasn't posted the event. It was approx. 6:30 pm local time, I was driving north on the eastern side of Colorado Springs & saw it in the eastern sky, extremely low. I would have sworn it landed only 10 miles to the east of me t was the most amazing one I've ever seen just b/c it was so incredibly low & close. What is even odder to me is that about 6-9 months ago I saw another incredible meteor, when I was driving & was at the exact same location as this one (Approx. Powers Blvd x Dublin), what are the odds of seeing a meteor entering the atmosphere a few months apart when you are driving (& the driver) both times at almost the exact same location. The other meteor however was in the northwest sky & was much higher. Appeared to be landing over the Air Force Academy regards, Simona

just east of Denver International Airport ~6:30pm 3DEC2010
Guest490 (guest) wrote elp allsky:: On Friday Dec. 3rd, 2010 at about 6:30 pm I was driving just east of Denver International Airport. I thought I was witnessing a plane crashing at first, but there was no hint of red or orange color, it was bright white with a long tail and lasted for several seconds. It seemed to be close to the ground north and east of Barr Lake .

Centennial, Colorado at 6:28 pm last Friday, Dec 3
Guest625 (guest): I also saw the large,bright, blue-green "Denver" meteor from my home in Centennial, Colorado at 6:28 pm last Friday, Dec 3. I'm 46 and it's the most spectacular I've ever seen. It moved slowly compared to typical meteors that I've seen. It was about 15-20 deg above horizon, azimuth about 20 deg (NNE),and moved north or northwest. It must have been even brighter than it looked to me,because minutes later I noticed the sky was hazy and partly obscured by high clouds in that area.

Golden, CO, at @ 6:30 pm 3DEC2010
Guest921 (guest) wrote:Yesterday, Dec. 3, I was leaving a restaurant in Golden, CO, at @ 6:30 pm and saw a HUGE green ball in the sky to the Northeast,falling North North West. At first I thought it was plane that had blown up into a fireball, it was that big, but then the way it disappated, I assume it was a meteor. It was HUGE (and beautiful!) It was much bigger than any shooting star that I have ever seen.It moved very quickly.My husband, who left the restaurant and went to a different car, did not see it.

Brekenridge, CO to Denver Hwy 6:30MST 3 DEC2010
Jennifer wrote, "A friend and I were driving back from Breckenridge, CO (to Denver) and saw a HUGE ball in the sky. We were in the mountains so I’m not positive about the direction but it looked to be moving downward from the north heading east. It lasted so long and was so big that we actually wondered if Denver would still be there when we got back. It was right around 6:30 MST. It looked to be white/greenish and was above the clouds but not so high that it looked to be out of the earth’s atmosphere. The object looked the size of a cantaloupe from our vantage point so I can only imagine how big it really was. The clouds lit up as it fell behind them and eventually it fell beyond our view since we were limited by the mountains around us. Even still, the event lasted at least 7 seconds, probably more. I’ve seen many shooting stars and this was so far from what a typical shooting star looks like that I cannot imagine that it didn’t cause some damage if it actually was a meteorite. I guess there is always the possibility that it was a flare, but it seemed far too high and to be moving much more horizontally to the earth than a flare would. We tried googling it when we got home but hadn’t found anything yet. This morning I saw this site when I googled it again so I thought I’d way in. Any idea what this was??"

Colorado Springs Hwy to Denver 6:30pm 3DEC2010
Mitriza (guest) wrote: So glad we weren't the only ones to see it! We were driving north from Colorado Springs at about 6:30 pm on 12/3/2010 and saw a blue-green light to the NE falling quickly. It faded for a half second and then came right back. We were waiting for a boom or fireball but nothing happened.Very curious. Never seen anything like that before.

Boulder, CO on 12/3/10 at 6:30 PM
Anonymous posted on elp allsky ...
I was driving east on Table Mesa Blvd in Boulder, CO on 12/3/10 at 6:30 PM and saw this large green meteor to the north of me, coming out of the east. It was truly the most incredible falling star I've ever seen. As the others posted, it was in view for several seconds. I even had a chance to tell my husband "check it out" and he saw the tail end.

Golden, CO @6:30 on December 3, 2010
Jeanne Judge e-mailed elp allsky:
 Last night at @ 6:30 p.m. I saw a striking and large ball of green light in the sky, Northeast in the sky from Golden, CO. It was much larger and greener than any shooting star that I have seen in the past. At first I thought that it was a fireball from an airplane it was that striking. It fell to the North/North/West very quickly and dissipted while it was still well above the earth.

Golden, CO @6:30 on December 3, 2010
Guest206 (guest) wrote elp allsky: Saw a very large green ball of light in the sky north east of Golden, CO @6:30 on December 3,2010. At first I thought it was a fireball from an exploded plane it was that large- but it was green in color,moved very quickly,and diddipated quickly. It was quite beautiful and stunning.It fell to the NNW in the sky (still significanyly east of Golden and, it appeared, Denver)


Westminster, Colorado ~18:29 MST 3DEC2010
justme (guest) wrote: I saw the same as mentioned by Buck Lynn earlier tonight and finally took the time out (to try and find out what I saw). I am in Westminster and I gasped and it looked so large I tried to make my husband look at what I half thought was a plane crashing. lol
This was also out of the north... and it was after dinner but I do not know the time,but it was very bright and huge, white in color. I forgot to make a wish, after I mentioned it and talked with my husband about what he missed looking at he told me to make a wish...hey if I get a million dollars we will celebrate (but it must have been about 2 or 3 minutes after it vanished from the sky).

Denver, Colorado ~18:29 MST 3DEC2010
Buck Lynn wrote: "My name is Buck Lynn, in Denver, Colorado. I was just looking for info on what I saw tonight, it was at 18:28pm MST in the North sky slightly east. Biggest entry I have ever seen. I'd love to know if this was unusual? it was SO big I immediately texted a friend of mine after the sighting, that msg was sent at 18:29 MST so the event occured within the last minute or so. I`m an hour and a half north of Monument CO,though and the body was way north of me.I was in prime vewing position. That scared me I actually braced for impact. I`ve seen lots of falling stars"this was way different and much bigger. "

North East of Monument Colorado TIME? 3DEC2010
Guest359 (guest):Just saw what appeared to be a meteorite North East of Monument Colorado...Big,Bright, Blue...fell through the clouds and lit them up...Way cool...what was it???

Kansas- Oklahoma- Arkansas 11:00pm 3DEC2010 Reports:
Mtn. View, Arkansas 11:00 p.m CST 3DEC2010
Guest305 (guest): I live near Mtn. View, Arkansas late last night about 11:00 p.m. I was loading wood in furnace and looked in the western sky and saw a huge green fireball it fell down till it dissapered behind tree line it was by far the biggest shooting star i've ever seen.

Seminole, Oklahoma - green glow falling from sky Dec. 3, 2010.

east of Yukon, Oklahoma 23:08 CST 3DEC2010
dabolay said...Friday, December 3, 2010 @ 11:08 PM My wife and I were returning home to Oklahoma City and were just east of Yukon, Oklahoma when we noticed a bolide style meteor travel from near the southwest to northeast part of the sky. The bolide emanated a bright green glow and significantly long smoky trail. The sighting lasted less than five seconds and because we were driving, we were unable to stop and photograph the incident.

Ottawa, Kansas 23:00 CST 3DEC2010
Anonymous commented,
"I was traveling south about 20 miles south of Ottawa, K.S. on Dec 3, 2010 at 11pm I seen a big green flash behing the clouds then I seen a hug white balling falling and appeared to explode and then disappear all less than ten seconds."

Stillwater, OK at 23:00 CST 3DEC2010
Guest185 (guest): Saw a green light falling from the sky from Stillwater OK at 11PM central time 12/3/10. I was driving east and saw it slightly to the south. reported on elp allsky

Edmond, Oklahoma 23:00 CST 3DEC2010
(guest): I saw a green light falling vertically around 11pm in Edmond, Oklahoma as I was driving home.I thought it was part of a flare or firework it was bright and it faded before it hit the ground. It definitely looked like it was in our atmosphere. My husband also saw the same light. He was driving north on I-35. reported on  elp allsky

15 miles east of Coffeyville, KS around 11:00pm CST 3DEC2010
Lyndon Davis e-mailed elp allsky : A friend and I were sitting on the porch of a hunting cabin, far away from any light sources. I saw a very large greenish fireball fall sometime around 11:00pm (10:47pm if I recall correctly). I was in Southeastern Kansas (approximately 15 miles east of Coffeyville, KS) and the object was to the south, falling in a straight vertical line to the ground. We did not hear any noise, but it was bright enough to cast shadows for approximately 3 seconds and cause my friend (who was looking in the opposite direction) to turn around and look due to the intensity of the light.
It had an appearance somewhat like a flare. I did not see any trail or debris coming from it. It was, by far, the largest thing I have ever seen fall from the sky.

Oklahoma City, OK 11:00pm CST 3DEC2010
Kaysi e-mailed elp allsky My name is Kavysania Kinslow I am in Oklahoma City, OK. I witnessed this same thing last night at about 11:00 from across the street from the State Capitol Building, in Oklahoma City. Do you have any idea what this may have been. Would please keep me informed. Thank you for your post and time. Kaysi

04 December 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 4DEC2010

Meteor Reports from Readers of Meteor/Meteorite News:
Colorado 3DEC2010 meteor video or news reports requested please email drtanuki@gmail.com  Thank you!

coast of Washington State 3:15am PST 12/4/10
Guest439 (guest):Larry Thevik wrote, 3:15am PST 12/4/10
meteorite over coast of Washington State traveling from se to nw 5 second duration.


Ottawa, Kansas 11PM 3DEC2010
Anonymous commented,
"I was traveling south about 20 miles south of Ottawa, K.S. on Dec 3, 2010 at 11pm I seen a big green flash behing the clouds then I seen a hug white balling falling and appeared to explode and then disappear all less than ten seconds."

Golden, CO @6:30 on December 3, 2010
Guest206 (guest) wrote elp allsky: Saw a very large green ball of light in the sky north east of Golden, CO @6:30 on December 3,2010. At first I thought it was a fireball from an exploded plane it was that large- but it was green in color,moved very quickly,and diddipated quickly. It was quite beautiful and stunning.It fell to the NNW in the sky (still significanyly east of Golden and, it appeared, Denver)

Golden, CO, at @ 6:30 pm 3DEC2010
Guest921 (guest) wrote:Yesterday, Dec. 3, I was leaving a restaurant in Golden, CO, at @ 6:30 pm and saw a HUGE green ball in the sky to the Northeast,falling North North West. At first I thought it was plane that had blown up into a fireball, it was that big, but then the way it disappated, I assume it was a meteor. It was HUGE (and beautiful!) It was much bigger than any shooting star that I have ever seen.It moved very quickly.My husband, who left the restaurant and went to a different car, did not see it.


Brekenridge, CO to Denver Hwy 6:30MST 3 DEC2010
Jennifer wrote, "A friend and I were driving back from Breckenridge, CO (to Denver) and saw a HUGE ball in the sky.  We were in the mountains so I’m not positive about the direction but it looked to be moving downward from the north heading east.  It lasted so long and was so big that we actually wondered if Denver would still be there when we got back.  It was right around 6:30 MST.  It looked to be white/greenish and was above the clouds but not so high that it looked to be out of the earth’s atmosphere.   The object looked the size of a cantaloupe from our vantage point so I can only imagine how big it really was.  The clouds lit up as it fell behind them and eventually it fell beyond our view since we were limited by the mountains around us.  Even still, the event lasted at least 7 seconds, probably more.  I’ve seen many shooting stars and this was so far from what a typical shooting star looks like that I cannot imagine that it didn’t cause some damage if it actually was a meteorite.  I guess there is always the possibility that it was a flare, but it seemed far too high and to be moving  much more horizontally to the earth than a flare would.  We tried googling it when we got home but hadn’t found anything yet.  This morning I saw this site when I googled it again so I thought I’d way in.  Any idea what this was??"


Westminster, Colorado ~18:29 3DEC2010
justme (guest) wrote: I saw the same as mentioned by Buck Lynn earlier tonight and finally took the time out (to try and find out what I saw). I am in Westminster and I gasped and it looked so large I tried to make my husband look at what I half thought was a plane crashing. lol
This was also out of the north... and it was after dinner but I do not know the time,but it was very bright and huge, white in color. I forgot to make a wish, after I mentioned it and talked with my husband about what he missed looking at he told me to make a wish...hey if I get a million dollars we will celebrate (but it must have been about 2 or 3 minutes after it vanished from the sky).

Denver, Colorado ~18:29 MST 3DEC2010
Buck Lynn wrote: "My name is Buck Lynn, in Denver, Colorado. I was just looking for info on what I saw tonight, it was at 18:28pm MST in the North sky slightly east. Biggest entry I have ever seen. I'd love to know if this was unusual? it was SO big I immediately texted a friend of mine after the sighting, that msg was sent at 18:29 MST so the event occured within the last minute or so.  I`m an hour and a half north of Monument CO,though and the body was way north of me.I was in prime vewing position.  
That scared me I actually braced for impact. I`ve seen lots of falling stars"this was way different and much bigger. "

North East of Monument Colorado  TIME? 3DEC2010
Guest359 (guest):Just saw what appeared to be a meteorite North East of Monument Colorado...Big,Bright, Blue...fell through the clouds and lit them up...Way cool...what was it???

Stillwater, OK at 23:00 central time 3DEC2010
Guest185 (guest): Saw a green light falling from the sky from Stillwater OK at 11PM central time 12/3/10. I was driving east and saw it slightly to the south.
reported on http://www.elpasoallsky.blogspot.com/


Mitriza (guest) wrote: So glad we weren't the only ones to see it! We were driving north from Colorado Springs at about 6:30 pm on 12/3/2010 and saw a blue-green light to the NE falling quickly. It faded for a half second and then came right back. We were waiting for a boom or fireball but nothing happened.Very curious. Never seen anything like that before.  

North of Austin, Texas  11:20 P.M. 2DEC2010
Guest583 (guest): I live just North of Austin, Texas & was outside having a smoke, around 11:20 P.M. last night, December 2nd, wen I saw that largest meteor(?) of my life.This was no faint shooting star. This was a brilliant, white-white/blue, object that left a substantial trail & looked to be "shedding" material in its wake. It was truly amazing, a sight I will never forget. Anyone else hear anything about this one?  Oh, & it was in the West,Southwest sky,moving from South to North, possibly away from me but I have no way of knowing for sure from where I sat. If anyone has any additional information on this observation,or any questions,please contact me. Thanks much, Rob (contact info on file)

Meteor/Meteorite News:
Arsenic-eating bacteria (and meteor) open new possibilities for alien life
Examiner.com
They concern a car in Peekskill, New York that was hit by a meteor so precisely that its 4" x 24" rear signal-light was plucked out, leaving the chrome ...

Geminids Meteor Shower: 'Up All Night' With NASA!
NASA (press release)
The 2010 Geminid meteor shower promises to be lively, with realistic viewing rates of 50-80 meteors per hour and potential peaks reaching 120 meteors per ...

نيزك Meteorite! Nov 2010 Issue Meteor/Meteorite News 4DEC2010

Rocks from Space Picture of the Day - 
December 3, 2010
http://www.rocksfromspace.org/
The cover of the November 2010 issue of METEORITE magazine shows an image from 1315 of Prophet Muhammad placing the Black Stone of Kaaba on a carpet so that it could be carried by four dignitaries who were competing for the privilege of carrying the stone.  The cover comes from an article by Wadi and Jan Woreczko  describing black stones set in the walls of a mosque in Instanbul that local lore describes as meteorites related to the Kaaba stone.  With this issue of Meteorite, the production of Meteorite magazine moved to a new team of Derek Sears (editor), Robert Beauford (co-editor) and Hazel Sears (production manager) at the University of Arkansas . 


على غلاف العدد 2010 تشرين الثاني / نوفمبر نيزك مجلة تظهر صورة من 1315 من النبي محمد يضع الحجر الأسود من الكعبة على سجادة بحيث يمكن حملها بواسطة أربعة كبار الشخصيات الذين كانوا يتنافسون على شرف حمل الحجر. الغطاء يأتي من مقال وادي Woreczko يناير تصف الحجارة السوداء مجموعة في جدران مسجد في Instanbul أن تقاليد المحلية تصفه النيازك المتصلة حجر الكعبة. مع هذه القضية لنيزك ، والإنتاج لنيزك انتقلت المجلة لفريق جديد من ديريك سيرز (محرر) ، روبرت Beauford (مؤلف مشارك) وهازل سيرز (مدير الإنتاج) في جامعة اركنساس .

03 December 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 3DEC2010

Meteor report from a reader of Meteor/Meteorite News:
Valdosta, Georgia (event time?) 2DEC2010 
Jenny wrote:  note to Jenny: time please; Thank you Jenny!
"Just saw one a little over an hour ago here in Valdosta, GA.

 It was big! Looked like a big fireball! It started off light, then 
got brighter, then turned a green tint, then back to an orangish
 color before it faded out fast. Disappeared basically. I called
 my friend who was driving a couple mins behind me to see if
 he saw it and he described it as a big fireball too. I believe I
 was heading south on the road I was driving on.... So, I THINK
 it was moving from west to east. I know it went from my 
right to left. It might have been a plane crashing, but I can't
 be sure. We live next to Moody AFB. But I didn't see a smoke
 trail or a big firey crash and burn and no loud bang sounds.
 And no sirens or anything like that... and we live 30 seconds
 away from a fire station."

Evidence Of Ancient Impact Preserved In Modern Sand
SpaceDaily Thu, 02 Dec 2010 15:42 PM PST
by Staff Writers San Juan, Puerto Rico (SPX) Dec 03, 2010 Through NAI's

 Minority Institution Research Support Program, scientists at the University
 of Puerto Rico and their collaborators have identified a unique record of 
an ancient meteorite impact event that is preserved in microstructures in
 detrital grains of quartz, zircon, and monazite in the Vaal River, South Africa. ...


Martian Meteorite Not Evidence of Extraterrestrials, Scientists Say
SPACE.com Thu, 02 Dec 2010 06:41 AM PST
What some argue is evidence of ancient life in a meteorite from Mars 

could have a simple chemical explanation, scientists now suggest. ...

Rare meteor hits local property
Toowoomba Chronicle
... by people all over Queensland, and has recently concluded the fireball was a 

meteor fragment accompanied by the rare phenomenon “ball lightning”. ...

Great Space Balls of Fire! How to Explain Weird Sightings Over Australia?
Discover Magazine (blog)
Hughes believes that the strange color of the meteor shards might be due to

 electrically charged oxygen molecules around the debris, similar to how ...

December Starline: Mother nature offers celestial presents
Mankato Free Press
The year's second best meteor shower, the Geminids, peaks between late night 

December 13 and the early morning hours of December 14. ...

02 December 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 2DEC2010


Mystery Boom Rattles Georgia

2 min - 168 views - Uploaded by NOLINKNEWS
DOUGLASVILLE, Ga., Nov. 28 -- Residents of three counties in rural west Georgia heard a boom that rattled windows, but officials ...
(26NOV2010 Georgia event)
youtube.com 

How about this theory: Villa Rica bang was a meteor?
Atlanta Journal Constitution

Some people have contacted the AJC saying they saw a large meteor around the same time as the noise, and others say a meteor can make a sonic boom if it ... (26NOV2010 Georgia event)


Ball lightning 'may explain UFOs'
BBC News
"Could it be that the meteor descending through the atmosphere, having passed through the ionosphere, actually created a transient conductive connection ...
Telegraph.co.uk
UFO sightings could be explained by meteor showers and ball lightening, according to an Australian astropyhsicist. Dr Stephen Hughes has made a ...

Twin County News
The Geminid meteor shower is an annual meteor shower that is extremely regular in its timing and can potentially be visible for days in the December sky, ...

Stargazing December 2010, Geminid meteor shower, lunar eclipse
Examiner.com
The December 2010 night sky will have two major highlights for stargazers: The Geminid meteorshower and a total lunar eclipse. The December Geminid meteor ...

Hughes, Stephen W. (2010) Green fireballs and ball lightning. Royal Society of London. Proceedings A. Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. (In Press)
This paper presents evidence of an apparent connection between ball lightning and a green fireball. On the evening of the 16th May 2006 at least three fireballs were seen by many people in the skies of Queensland, Australia. One of the fireballs was seen passing over the Great Divide about 120 km west of Brisbane, and soon after, a luminous green ball about 30 cm in diameter was seen rolling down the slope of the Great Divide. A detailed description given by a witness indicates that the phenomenon was probably a highly luminous form of ball lightning. An hypothesis presented in this paper is that the passage of the Queensland fireball meteor created an electrically conductive path between the ionosphere and ground, providing energy for the ball lightning phenomenon. A strong similarity is noted between the Queensland fireball and the Pasamonte fireball seen in New Mexico in 1933. Both meteors exhibit a twist in the tail that could be explained by hydrodynamic forces. The possibility that multiple sightings of fireballs across South East Queensland were produced owing to fragments from comet 73P Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 is discussed. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/38939/

by Renyu Hu
"It has been suggested that chondrules and calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) were formed at the inner edge of the protoplanetary disk and then entrained in magnetocentrifugal X-winds"....
http://iopscience.iop.org/0004-637X/725/2/1421

- Pre-solar grains carrying anomalous chromium-54 show evidence for formation in a supernova.

01 December 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 1DEC2010

Junk science: alien creatures found in ice meteorite
Examiner.com
Duane P. Snyder is a man with a wish, to prove alien life exists, and a meteorite, which he believes may just offer that proof. ...



Researcher suggests Australians saw meteors and ball lightning in 2006
msnbc.com
In fact, a commercial airline pilot who landed in New Zealand that day reported seeing ameteor breaking up into fragments, which turned green as the bits ...


Historical director plans a comeback
Clackamas Review
... most prized possessions: a piece of the Willamette Meteorite, ancient petroglyphs, American Indian baskets, a fashion gallery of 19th century settlers, ...


Daily TWiP - Ann Hodges becomes the first person hit by a meteorite today in 1954
The Nashua Telegraph Tue, 30 Nov 2010 10:56 AM PST
Welcome to Daily TWiP, your daily dose of all the holidays and history we couldnât cram into The Week in Preview. Today (Nov. 30) in 1954, Ann Hodges lay down for a nap on her living room couch in her house in Sylacauga, Ala., little imagining that she was about to make history. She was woken suddenly by an eight and a half pound fragment of what would be dubbed the Sylacauga Aerolite smashing ...


Nov. 30, 1954: Alabama Woman Hit by Meteorite
WTVC Chattanooga Tue, 30 Nov 2010 09:56 AM PST
The first modern instance of a meteorite striking a human being occurs at Sylacauga, Alabama, when a meteorite crashes through the roof of a house and into a living room, bounces off a radio, and strikes a woman on the hip. ...


NASA mystery press conference: Did they find ET? 
ScienceBlogs Tue, 30 Nov 2010 07:24 AM PST
NASA has slyly, or inadvertantly, let out a handful of clues that a planned news conference will reveal details of an important new finding regarding life on other planets. There have been a number of moments in the history of astrobiology where an important find has gotten us all very excited, including the discovery of isotopic profiles on a Mars rock (a meteorite) indicating a biological ...

Eclipse, meteor shower double treat for stargazers in Dec.
GMANews.TV
meteor shower and a lunar eclipse will top the treats for stargazers in December, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services ...

Sky watchers to get celestial show
Bundaberg NewsMail
Alloway Observatory director Mac Jonsen says sky-watchers can expect a good show from the Geminids meteor shower this month. BUNDABERG residents who are ...