[meteorite-list] Meteorite Fall In Washington?

From: nakhladog_at_comcast.net <*nakhladog_at_meteoritecentral.com*> Date: Thu Apr 22 10:21:05 2004 Message-ID: <20030715234421.07E50535AF_at_pairlist.net> · nakhladog_at_meteoritecentral.com

--
Rob Wesel
------------------
We are the music makers...and we 
are the dreamers of the dreams.
Willy Wonka, 1971
> 
> 
> http://www.thedailyworld.com/daily/2003/Jul-15-Tue-2003/news/news1.html
> 
> Rocks in Elma may be remains of a meteor 
> By Levi Pulkkinen 
> Daily World (Washington)
> July 15, 2003
> 
> ELMA - Elma High School Senior Brian Reed was bored,
> just taking a night drive through Elma's dark, deserted
> streets. Closing on 1 a.m., he, his cousin Scott Reed and
> fellow Elma Senior Dan Raney hadn't found any more
> excitement after midnight than before it.
> 
> Then, Reed says, a meteor tore open the night sky.
> 
> "We were just driving down the road, and I just saw this big,
> bright flash," the 18 - year - old said. "At first, I thought it
> was a shooting star or a falling star or something.
> 
> "It looked like fireworks, but it had a tail about six or seven -
> feet long."
> 
> Reed said the falling rock appeared to break apart as it
> approached the earth, exploding before impact. 
> 
> The young men decided to investigate, and headed from the
> freeway toward Elma High School, where they believed the
> fragments struck. 
> 
> "We went out there and started looking around, and we saw
> a bunch of divot holes in the sand of the track out there,"
> Reed said. "We looked for a while, then we went and got a
> couple of cops."
> 
> Raney, 17, said he tried to pick up a piece of the still - hot
> rock and burned his hand. 
> 
> Soon police joined the young men's investigation, examining
> the pock - marked asphalt and dinged ground. 
> 
> Toby Smith, a University of Washington astronomy lecturer
> and meteorite researcher, said Reed's description of events
> matches with the stories told by others who have seen falling
> meteors.
> 
> "It sort of has the hallmarks of being a classic meteorite fall,"
> Smith said. "It's actually very rare (to see a meteor strike
> the earth), but, as the population density grows, we get more
> people reporting seeing this type of thing. 
> 
> "These types of meteorite fall are reported about once or
> twice a year."
> 
> After flagging down a Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Deputy,
> Reed called his mother and contacted the Elma Police
> Department. Working a graveyard shift, Elma Officer Travis
> Bealert took the call.
> 
> According to Elma Police sources, the officer arrived at the
> scene to find the young men searching for pieces of rock.
> After examining the site himself, Bealert apparently
> continued on his patrol.
> 
> Bealert's shift ended early Tuesday and attempts to contact
> him were unsuccessful.
> 
> Though more than 20,000 tons of material strike the earth's
> atmosphere annually, Smith said nearly all of it burns up
> before it strikes the ground. Very rarely is material that
> actually strikes the earth actually seen.
> 
> If the Elma meteorites are extraterrestrial, Smith said he
> believes it may be the first meteor strike witnessed in
> Washington's history. Six other meteorites have been
> recovered in Washington.
> 
> Smith said a similar strike was witnessed near a Chicago
> suburb last year.
> 
> "These things are seen to happen," he said. "Meteorites are
> very, very rare things, but a lot of them fall."
> 
> The astronomer said meteors passing through the earth's
> atmosphere usually burn and deform, leaving a dark, glassy
> skin on the rock.
> 
> "It really looks like a burnt crust. That's usually a dead
> giveaway," Smith said. "If they have the crusts on them,
> there's a very good possibility that these could be
> meteorites."
> 
> Until the rock has been examined, however, Smith said it is
> difficult to be certain of its origin.
> 
> But, how do three young men of Elma top off their out - of -
> this - world night? Snacks, of course.
> 
> "We went down to the store behind the bowling alley ... and
> got something to eat," Reed said. "We were still pretty
> excited." 
> 
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