[meteorite-list] Meteorite Is Likely Cause For Sonic Boom Over Australia

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:37:38 2004
Message-ID: <200012281854.KAA24977_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.canoe.ca/EdmontonNews/es.es-12-28-0049.html

Small space rock blamed for big Aussie sonic boom
By AP
December 28, 2000

SYDNEY -- A small meteorite's fall to Earth was the likely cause of a sonic
boom and streaks of light over southeastern Australia which sparked dozens
of calls to police, an expert said yesterday.

"It is most likely to be a meteorite," said Ian Warren, operations
supervisor at the Deep Space Communications Complex in the national capital,
Canberra.

"The size of the meteorite would probably be about coffee cup size. That
would cause a sonic boom and would also cause some good flares around it,"
Warren said.

Callers in Batemans Bay, 250 km south of Sydney, compared the mysterious
lights in the sky Tuesday night to flares, police inspector Peter Volf said.

The callers said the lights were accompanied by an explosion strong enough
to shake buildings.

Fire authorities in Canberra, about 100 km west of Batemans Bay, were
investigating whether debris from the meteorite was the cause of three grass
fires which began overnight Tuesday.
Received on Thu 28 Dec 2000 01:54:07 PM PST