[meteorite-list] Meteor Lights Up England

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:06:56 2004
Message-ID: <200210062307.QAA20256_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2303349.stm

'Meteor' lights up Midlands
BBC News
October 6, 2002

The object was seen shortly before 0600 BST
A burning object seen streaking across West Midlands skies on Sunday
morning may have been a meteor, astronomers have said.

The streaking fireball was seen heading south shortly before 0600 BST.

Its passage was followed by a bright flash which lit up the sky.

Sightings of the object were reported at sites including Coventry, England's
south coast and Wales.

Andy Salmon, from the Birmingham Astronomical Society, said it may have
been a meteor - space debris burning up in the atmosphere.

He also suggested it may have been a man-made object, such a satellite
re-entering the atmosphere, or a rocket being launched.

"Meteors can happen at any time... there's no predicting when it may
happen," he said.

One witness said the object had a tail.

"All of a sudden I've seen this light streak across the sky... the front of
the light was much larger than what you would call the tail," he said.

'Like a film'

The BBC's Ben Godfrey saw the fireball as he arrived at work.

"It was reminiscent of a meteor you might see in a film... it was huge," he
said.

Local aviation authorities confirmed the object was not
aircraft-related.

It has been an eventful period for the West Midlands in nature terms,
with the region shaken by an earth tremor on 23 September.
Received on Sun 06 Oct 2002 07:07:51 PM PDT