[meteorite-list] Bright Meteor Seen Over New Hampshire

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:44:44 2004
Message-ID: <200103301704.JAA16892_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

 
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=1599214&BRD=1652&PAG=461&dept_id=12530&rfi=6

Meteor Seen In City's Skies
Kimberly Phillips
Register Citizen (New Hamsphire)
March 29, 2001
 
Could it happen in Torrington?
 
Glenn Carlson and his wife Sondra were traveling home from New Hampshire
last weekend when they saw something bright streak across the sky. In the
heavens above Route 8 southbound, the South Kent couple saw what they
identified as a shooting star.

The pair admired the glow then noticed it's light flicker, extinguish
momentarily, and bound toward Earth eventually landing in a location between
TJ Maxx, O&G Industries, Route 8, and Charlotte Hungerford Hospital.

"It didn't like explode or anything," Glenn said Wednesday. "As it got
closer (into the Carlsons' view) it kind of flared up and it kind of blacked
out."

Glenn said he was certain the object wasn't a bottle rocket or any
mysterious visitor from outer space, merely a meteor speeding wayward
through the atmosphere.

"It was pretty neat," Glenn said.

Susan French, vice president of the board of trustees for the Dudley
Observatory in Schenectady, N.Y. and a star party coordinator for the Albany
Amateur Astronomers Club, said the Carlsons indeed might have seen a meteor.

The only thing, she said, is a meteorite, once it hovers about 12 miles
above the Earth, extinguishes itself entirely and could land anywhere at
anytime. So pinpointing an exact location from a streak in the sky would be
nearly impossible.

Most people identify fallen meteorites if the chunk of space rock hits
something, such as a house or a car, or if a person stumbles upon something
strange in a wooded area, French said.

"There always are meteor showers," she continued. "There's a good chance he
saw a meteor."

A meteor, or shooting star, rapidly crosses the sky in about 15 seconds,
whereas a satellite or an airplane takes much longer, French explained. And
this time of year is ripe for meteors, as the March showers are now coming
to an end.

The only thing about which French was skeptical was the height the Carlsons
said they saw the object. Generally, 60 miles in the air is when people see
the burning rocks.

But then again, some could say it might have been something other than a
meteor.
Received on Fri 30 Mar 2001 12:04:03 PM PST