[meteorite-list] Burning Object Seen Over Kentucky

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:00:07 2004
Message-ID: <200207161601.JAA01946_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.cknj.com/cknj/myarticles.asp?P=374108&S=496&PubID=7014&EC=0

County averages one sighting per year
James Roberts
Central Kentucky News-Journal
July 16, 2002

An unidentified flying object sighting near the Nally & Gibson rock quarry
was probably a meteor or unusually bright star.

On June 21, an anonymous caller reported a UFO near the quarry at 11:23 p.m.

According to the 911 report, the caller described the object as "some type
of space debris." The caller also said that the object "burned up as it
entered the atmosphere."

Taylor County Sheriff's Deputy Aaron Walters investigated the report but
found nothing, according to Campbellsville Police Chief Bill Cassell.

"It could have been a crank call. It could have been real. We don't know,"
Cassell said.

Walters could not be reached for comment but, Chief Deputy Allen Newton, who
was on duty that night, said it was just a bright star. Nothing fell to the
ground.

"This may have been the same person that called [a UFO sighting] in two or
three years ago," he said.

That sighting was also just a bright star, Newton said.

Kenny Young, an investigator with the Kentucky chapter of the Mutual UFO
Network, said that it is unlikely that the sighting was UFO related.

"That an officer responding to the call would make note of a bright star
does not suggest anything unusual unless he made specific note that this was
something other than a star," Young said.

The caller's description of burning space debris does not alert Young to
anything unusual either.

"I see no immediate reason to equate this with a UFO-related event," he
said. "That being said, it is quite unusual for someone to notify local law
enforcement regarding their observation of incoming meteoric debris or
re-entry of space debris."

However, Young admits that he is interested in the sighting.

"I have been following a number of unusual UFO sighting reports around
Kentucky in the last few months," he said. "In the past two months there
have been a number of UFO claims from some residents in Louisa, Ky., and
other areas in east-central Kentucky that were reported to the National UFO
reporting center."

A sighting caught on tape by a Lexington TV crew was likely an
unusually-shape balloon, Young said. A report of an object landing near Fort
Knox was unverified.

According to Dr. Anthony K. Grafton, a chemistry professor at Campbellsville
University, the caller's description and what the police observed may not be
the same thing.

"A bright star could certainly catch someone's attention, but would not
likely appear to burn up as the caller stated," Grafton said. "Bright
planets, particularly Venus, have often been the objects of UFO reports."

Grafton said that what the caller saw was likely just man-made debris.

"Thousands of pieces of man-made debris are orbiting the Earth, and the
re-entry of any one of these objects would account for the caller's
observations," he said.

Grafton said that the debris could "fracture as they burn up, producing
spectacular, though brief, displays."

The object could also have been a meteor, Grafton said, although it would
had to have been large to produce a noticeable burning effect.

"We are near the usual dates for two regular meteor showers: the Delta
Aqaurids and the Perseids, although both peak several days to a few weeks
from now," Grafton said.

"Man-made debris and meteors enter the atmosphere and burn up every day,"
Grafton said. "Much of it goes unnoticed and very rarely does any part of
the object survive atmospheric entry and reach the ground."

According to Taylor County Emergency Management Public Information Officer
Ronnie Dooley, "nothing hit the ground so we have no way of verifying
anything. I feel like it's probably a meteor. That is just my theory."

Dooley said that the county averages about one UFO sighting a year.

Grafton doesn't doubt that people are seeing things that are difficult to
identify, but he believes there is a reasonable explanation to the
sightings.

"It is extremely unlikely that what people describe as UFOs are anything
more than natural or man-made occurrences such as meteors, balloons or
aircraft."
Received on Tue 16 Jul 2002 12:01:31 PM PDT