[meteorite-list] NP Article, 09-1966 Meteor Vaporized Before Hitting Field

From: MARK BOSTICK <thebigcollector_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:18:31 2004
Message-ID: <OE19QlGpf83sntGWIxd00007096_at_hotmail.com>

Paper: The Sheboygan Press
City: Sheboygan, Wi
Date: Monday, September 19, 1966
Page: 1


Meteor Bursts, Vaporizes Before Hitting Farm Field

     MARION, Ind. (AP) - The giant meteor that exploded over the Midwest
apparently vaporized before it struck a farm field near here.
     Experts hunted through a soybean field all day Sunday without finding
any trace of the meteorite particles and concluded they probably never
would.
     Thousands of persons saw the flash of the meteor Saturday night as it
disintegrated in a brilliant rain of fragments on Indiana, Michigan and
southern Ontario, Canada.
     Dr. Newton G. Sprague, associate professor of physics at Ball State
University, searched the soybean field where an eyewitness said a "fire ball
as big as a barn" fell Saturday night.
     "Fragments of the meteorite very likely fell around Marion." dr.
Sprague said, "but what most persons saw was a burning cloud of ionized
gasses, not a meteorite."
     He added that "the meteor could have broken up into such small
particles it would be like the dust on your shirt."
     The day-long search centered on a 20-acre soybean field where Wayne
Glassburn, 40, a farmer, said the meteor "lit up the sky with a ball of fire
as large as a barn. It trailed to the ground with a jagged edges and looked
like a dragon spitting fire."
     The light lasted about five seconds, he said.
     There were no fires after the red glow disappeared. He reported
hearing no sound.
     "Meteors are normally accopanied by an explosion or whizzing noise,"
Dr. Sprague explained. "If Mr. Glassburn heard no sound, it is possible it
was further away than he thought."
     But Glassburn said, "I know something's out in the soybean field.
After everything quiets down, I may get my bearings and have a look for
myself. The meteorite could be hidden by weeds."
Received on Fri 28 Feb 2003 02:14:36 PM PST