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Re: US DOD FIREBALL RELEASE

>>   I can't explain why, but I have a stinking hunch that there is a
>>lot more that DoD has not told us, 
>>both about bollides and about their earlier plans for planetary
>>defense.  

>Well, considering we're talking about surveillance data from a military
>satellite, and there are issues of national security at hand, it is not 
>surprising that the DOD have not released the full data set.  The fact 
>the Air Force is voluntarily releasing any data to the public on their own 
>is to me pretty amazing.  

Also, the recent nuclear tests by India perfectly illustrates the issue of 
national security, and real dangers involved with releasing data from military
survellance satellites.

>Perhaps the openings of the movies 
>"Deep Impact" and "Armageddon" will cause them to change their minds.

I think national security has higher priority, and the Pakistan/India
situation will now probably mean, unfortunately, that no satellite data 
will be released from the Air Force.

What I hope Deep Impact and Armageddon will do, is increase the 
public awareness of the possibility of asteroid/comet impacts with Earth, 
which in turn leads to more funding of asteroid detection programs.  
This is an act of self-preservation, and does not have to involve the military.

Ron Baalke