[meteorite-list] Possible meteorite fall in Belgium

From: Christian Steyaert <steyaert_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:06:17 2004
Message-ID: <3.0.6.32.20021123122950.0079c7d0_at_pop3.uunet.be>

A meteorwrong unfortunately, as Frans Vanloo announced himself on the VVS
mailing list the next day.


        Chris




Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2002 07:31:20 +0100
Sender: "Vereniging voor Sterrenkunde (Belgian Association of Amateur
        Astronomers)" <VVS_at_LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE>
From: Frans van Loo <frans.v.loo_at_WANADOO.BE>
Subject: [VVS] De steen
To: VVS_at_LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE

Hallo lijst,

Wat betreft de steen van Waterschei: De kranten kennen we al langer dan
vandaag en de berichtgeving moet men steeds met een korrel zout nemen.
Vergeet niet dat er grappenmakers in het spel geweest kunnen zijn. Deze
"Rolling Stone" ging aan het "rollen" omdat de familie er meteen de pers
bij haalde zodat de berichtgeving op de feiten vooruit liep. Gelukkig
konden we met Rudolf, onze huis-geoloog in "Man bijt hond" de story
afronden. 750.000 Vlamingen weten nu ( hopelijk) dat "vallende sterren" ook
stenen kunnen zijn die voor je neus vallen.
We moeten beslist eens wat meer naar onze eigen gesteenten gaan kijken. Ik
wist niet dat een ordinaire kei er zo interessant uit kon zien.
Frans bijt hond.
Genk.



At 11:30 23/11/2002 +0100, Piper R.W. Hollier wrote:
>This is a translation of a posting to the Dutch Meteor Society list on
>Thursday 21 November:
>
>Meteorite fallen in Limburg
>
>A front-page article in the Belang van Limburg [newspaper] reports that a
>fist-sized stony meteorite fell in Genk [Belgium] on Wednesday. According
>to Frans Vanloo of the Euro Planetarium it smelled burned and had a crust.
>The meteorite had also made a crater in the road surface. According to the
>article the meteorite will be studied by scientists.
>
>[end of translated posting]
>
>As usual, the newspaper is reporting the object to be a meteorite even
>before it has been subjected to scientific scrutiny, though admittedly this
>report lacks the suspicious and sensationalistic elements of typical
>meterwrong "fall" reports, e.g. glowing red hot, set the grass on fire,
>off-scale readings on sheriff's geiger counter, etc. etc. etc.
>
>An interesting coincidence is that a daylight fireball was sighted on 15
>November at about 4:15 PM by an observer in Uithoorn, south of Amsterdam,
>heading in an easterly direction (Limburg is southeast of the observer's
>position). Here is a translation of the observer's comments:
>
>I don't know the exact time; it was a little after 4 PM, I would estimate
>4:15. It appeared at the zenith and went to the east in the direction of
>the moon which was already visible in the sky at that time, a trajectory
>between 070 and 090 degrees? It remained visible until just above the
>horizon (or might it have left the atmosphere again?). I think that the
>fireball itself was visible for three seconds; it went very fast. It didn't
>break up but did leave a trail which remained visible for a short time, and
>this while the sun was still shining.
>
>[end of observer's comments]
>
>Best wishes to all,
>
>Piper
Received on Sat 23 Nov 2002 06:29:50 AM PST