[meteorite-list] Fiery Show Has Australia Buzzing

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:31:10 2004
Message-ID: <200404021747.JAA04757_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://townsvillebulletin.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,91744

Fiery show has North buzzing
By HAYLEY SEENEY
Townsville Bulletin (Australia)
April 3, 2004

A PILOT has told of a large green ball which spanned his
plane's front windshield dropping from the sky and bursting
into flames before hitting the Earth during a spectacular sky
show that has the North buzzing.

Experts now believe the reported sightings of flaming
fireballs falling through the sky on Wednesday night were
part of a "meteor grouping" or a mini-meteor shower and not
one large fireball.

Up to yesterday afternoon, witnesses were contacting the
Townsville Bulletin with stories of fireballs hitting the
ground at Winton, east of Mount Isa and near the Burdekin.

Cairns-based pilot Ron Uhr was on his way back from Mount
Gordon, also known as Gunpowder, to Townsville when he saw
two fireballs within an hour, including one that witnesses
believed hit the ground.

Mr Uhr said the first sighting occurred sometime between
7.15pm and 7.30pm Wednesday, 95.5km east of Mount Isa.

The second sighting was 128.7km west of Townsville about
8.15pm.

"With the first one it filled the front of my window, a
large green ball and then it exploded with sparks out
the back," Mr Uhr said.

"It just seemed so close, I thought it was coming at us
at first."

Mr Uhr said when the object burst into flames, it looked
like an exploding spaceship.

He said it hit the ground and the passengers and crew
could see a large, orange glow at the point of impact.

The second green ball was smaller than the first and also
exploded into fire, Mr Uhr said.

However, it appeared to have broken up and burnt out
before hitting Earth.

"It was quite impressive," Mr Uhr said.

"I read the paper in the morning and that was exactly
what I saw, it was not a UFO at all but a large green
ball both times."

A passenger on board the Alliance Airlines flight QQ714
from Brisbane to Townsville, Allan Vanska, said yesterday
he saw the fireball suddenly appear out his window.

It travelled as a glowing orange ball before hitting the
ground in a white haze.

Mr Vanska said after what he thought was impact, the
fireball could no longer be seen. An Alliance Airlines
spokesman said the flight would have been just north of
the Burdekin, perhaps at Giru, at the time Mr Vanska
says he saw the fireball.

Winton residents also believed a fireball impacted in
their area with Mayor Bruce Collins predicting it would
have come down about 30 to 40km west of the town.

People at Mount Isa, Hughenden, Charters Towers, Winton,
Blackhall, Giru, and Charleville all reported seeing
flaming objects crashing towards Earth. A reader from
Cairns said he saw the fireball, but it appeared well
north of the city.

James Cook University astronomy centre director
Associate Professor Graeme White said after hearing
the pilot's story and considering the number of centres
in Queensland which witnessed the phenomena, it was
likely a meteor had broken into fragments that speared
through different parts of Queensland.

He said it could not be classified as a meteor shower
though, as that phenomenom would last for several days.

Rural Fire Inspector Lee Skinn, based at Charters Towers
where a fireball was also seen, said there were no fires
reported in the district.

If a burning fireball had impacted, Mr Skinn said he
would expected some fires because of the quantity of
fuel in western areas.

Another pilot who was about five minutes behind Mr Uhr
said he did not see any flaming objects in the sky, but
saw two large globes glowing on the ground near where
Mr Uhr believes the fireball hit.

There was a false alarm on Thursday night, when a
charter flight pilot thought he saw a repeat of
Wednesday's show but the "glowing green object" turned
out to be an army flare.
Received on Fri 02 Apr 2004 12:47:10 PM PST