[meteorite-list] Kecksburg bolide

From: Marco Langbroek <marco.langbroek_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:28:34 2004
Message-ID: <002601c398b5$ae9ea180$fec2ea3e_at_HAL>

Following Francis Graham's mail and Marks Langenfeld's addition, I made a
'query for decay date' on the NASA OIG server for a few days around December
9th, 1965. And lo behold, there is a decay of a Soviet satellite listed for
December 9th 1965: Cosmos 96 (1965-094a, #01742). It was launched two weeks
earlier. I could not retrieve any detailed orbital data, but with a listed
inclination of 51 degrees this satellite could indeed pass over the US,
although without detailed orbit data I cannot say it must have done so at
the time of the Kecksburg bolide.

I then hit the internet in search for info on Cosmos 96, and discovered that
the link with Kecksburg indeed was made earlier. Interestingly, the
spacecraft in question appears to have been a Venera lander (a mission to
Venus) that failed to leave parking orbit. More info, including (highly
critical) comments if this was the source of the Kecksburg bolide, can be
found at:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1965-094A
Even if the Kecksburg bolide was not due to Cosmos 96 re-entering
atmosphere, it could be of course that the military *thought* this was
possibly Cosmos 96 re-entering and hence checked it out.

- Marco


> This is because, I tentatively assert (which is a
> way of saying this is wild speculation), the US
> government was collecting pieces of Soviet spacecraft
> secretly, in violation of the Outer Space Treaty the
> US signed(which requires return) for the purpose of
> study of Soviet technology.
> Kecksburg is an example. The thing as sketched
> looks like some sort of re-entry vehicle. The "alien
> writing" might well have been Russian characters. Jim
> Oberg was the first to advance this hypothesis
> regarding Kecksburg.



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Marco Langbroek

marco.langbroek_at_wanadoo.nl
meteorites_at_dmsweb.org
http://home.wanadoo.nl/marco.langbroek

"What seest thou else
 In the dark backward and abysm of time?"

                            William Shakespeare
                            The Tempest act I scene 2
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Received on Wed 22 Oct 2003 12:00:54 PM PDT