[meteorite-list] NPA 04-26-1966 Thousands See Falling Meteor

From: MARK BOSTICK <thebigcollector_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Dec 29 09:51:03 2004
Message-ID: <BAY4-F157E79E5B7FF41F4494526B39B0_at_phx.gbl>

Paper: Syracuse Herald Journal
City: Syracuse, New York
Date: Tuesday, April 26, 1966
Page: 1, continued on 9

Thousands see falling meteor
By ROBERT R HAGGART

     Thousands of people last night saw one of the wonders of the universe -
a meteor burning up in a brilliant ball of fire in the sky, at first light
green and then finally fading to orange and red.
     Scientists and astronomers across the country contacted by the
Herald-Journal agreed that what people from Ohio to Boston and Canada to
North Carolina saw was a single, relatively large meteor burning up in the
earth's atmosphere.
     They said it was not in any way related to another wonder of the
universe that thousands of people saw at about the same time last Friday
night.
     That, they said, was a meteor shower.
     And they predicted to the Herald-Journal that there will be another
meteor shower May 5, a week from Thursday.
     One of the leading astronomers in the nation on the subject of meteors
is Dr. Fred L. Whipple, director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory in Cambridge, Mass.
     "What people saw last Friday," he said, "was a meteor shower, a common
and predictable occurrence."
     This particular shower, he said is called the Lyrid Meteor Shower,
because it can be seen in the eastern sky at sunset and comes from the
general direction of the Constellation Lyra.
     "A long time ago," said Dr. Whipple, "in prehistoric times, a large
meteor broke up in the universe.
     "This mass of tiny particles continues to circle around the sun, as the
earth does.
     "At a predictable time every year," he said, "the plane of the earth,
the path of the earth around the sun, passes through this debris."
     What people saw last night was something else again, he said.
     "It was a bright fireball that came from God knows where," said Dr.
Whipple, "a hunk of material that was drawn into the earth's atmosphere by
chance."
     The two events were unrelated, he said, despite the fact that both
happened at about 7:15 p.m., because they were in different locations in the
sky and going in different directions.
     Last night's meteor, noted Dr. Anthony Aveni, assistant professor of
astronomy at Colgate University, had a very flat trajectory, while the
meteor shower of last Friday had a sharper angle to the earth.
     Both Dr. Whipple and Dr. Aveni said the events had nothing to do with
comets.
     The tial of Haley's Comet last passed across the earth in 1910, said
Dr. Aveni, and is not due again until 1987, said Dr. Whipple.
     Dr. Whipple said scientists working under him are conducting an
investigation to see if any pieces of the meteor actually landed on earth.
     A report by a William A. Carr of Plattsburgh, leads the astronomer to
believe it might have landed somewhere north of Albany.
     This, he said, is because Carr reportedly heard an explosion just
before the meteor went out of sight. "It might be something like a sonic
boom," he said.
     Dr. Curtis Hemenway, director of the Dudley Observatory in Albany, said
information indicated the object landed near the Canadian border in an area
southwest of Montreal and northwest of Plattsburg.
     Hemenway said the sonic book was also heard over Albany, three ot five
minutes after the object was sighted. The boom, he said, was apparently
caused by the meteor entering the earth's atmosphere at supersonic speeds,
approaching 40 miles a second.
     Dr. Hemenway said he was checking out reports of what sounded like
rainfall in the area of Luzerne, north of Saratoga Springs - particles
dropping or torn off the meteor as it entered the earth's atmosphere.
     Another prominent astronomer, Dr. Thomas Nicholson, chairman of the
Hayden Planetarium in New York City, said it was possible that parts of the
meteor landed on earth before burning up.
     He agreed that last night's event was a single meteor, compared with
predictable meteor showers such as happened last Friday.
     He noted the following showers expected to hit earth this year:
     May, Aquarid Shower; end of July, Delta Aquid; August, Persids Shower;
late October, Orionid Shower; early November, Taurids Shower; and one of the
most famous in the middle of November, the Leonids Shower.
     Police, weather bureau and aviation agencies were deluged with reports
that varied in description and interpretation which ranged from a glowing
spaceship to a plane on fire.
     Hundreds of calls jammed Herald-Journal telephone switchboards between
8:15 and 9:30 p.m. last night as people attempted to get information about
the meteor.
     "It was just gorgeous," said one caller, "A huge sparkler moving across
the sky."
      At times both of this newspaper’s switchboards were completely
lighted. The calls jammed all lines. Ad it was the same at the police
department, sheriff’s office, Hancock field, and State Police offices.
    The reactions ranged from fear to amazement, from curiosity to
speculation.

Vapor Trail

     In general, Syracuse area residents were in agreement as in what they
saw. Most said it was a fiery object that appeared to be light green and
then fade into an orangish-reddish glow. A vapor trail behind the object
also was reported by most persons who saw it.
     Among the first to call this newspaper was George Graff, of 120 Gordon
Pkwy., Fairmount, who said he thought he saw a small plane swerve to avoid
contact with the object.
     “It was a bright green object,” Graff said. “It sounded like a jet over
Hancock Field and appeared to be a skyrocket. I saw it west of the city,
and it was traveling from south to north.”
     John Garrow, of 113 Brookley Drive, and Bob Bostley and Frank Werbeck,
both of Liverpool, were among the many who reported brilliant sparks from
the object and a clear contrail.

Seen Through Telescope

     An amateur astronomer, William Pelrine, of Baldwinsville, said he
watched the object through his telescope at home. He said the object was 3
degrees above the horizon and gave off a magnesium flare with sparks.
     “It had no trajectory,” he said.
     A Lafayette women said, “It was quite a scary feeling. It was just a
trail of fire,” according to Mrs. Clifford Wheeler, 6961 Cherry Valley Road.
     Her husband said it was a green ball. “It started to disintegrate,” he
said, “but it wasn’t dropping. It was just going horizontally, almost like a
skyrocket.”
     Besides being called a skyrocket, Syracusans also reported seeing a
Roman candle, a manmade missile, flying saucer, from an airplane, booster
rocket and UFO.
“Beautiful Sight”
     George Dominick, of 810 W. Brighton Ave., said it was a beautiful
sight. “It went from south to north over the city and seemed to fade into a
light orange color and then disintegrate.:
     But to some persons it wasn’t beautiful.
     One Syracuse University coed who refused to give her name said, “You
better come up home quickly. I just saw a flying saucer over the
university.”
     How fast was the object traveling?
     Reports varied from 150 m.p.h. to supersonic speeds.
     Donald Lyman, of 6824 North Manlius Road, said whatever it was, “it
broke into three pieces.”
“Fightening
     No two reports were identical. Mrs. Nettle Mancino, of 701 Molloy Road,
Mattydale, described it as “beautiful but frightening.”
     Nearly 500 Tompkins County area residents described seeing meteors,
flying saucers and even a large airplane on fire. One person reported seeing
the UFO land with “10 little green men” getting out.
     Only one detailed description of the “inhabitants of saucers” from a
man who refused to give his name. He simply said, “They’re running all over
my backyard. Get the heck out here and chase them away.”
     In Cortland 76 calls were received at police headquarters between 8:15
and 9:30. Police observers reported the object maneuvering, standing still,
moving slowly and streaking at ultra-sonic speed.
     Among those who reported seeing the object in Cortland was Detective
John Morgia’s son who asked his father to come out of their home and “see
the largest, brightest flying star of all time.”
     Several persons in Central New York area who reported the object last
night also said they saw a UFO Sunday evening.
     John Povero, veteran pilot who is a school bus driver in Seneca Falls,
said he saw a UFO early Sunday evening in South Seneca County. “It just
seemed to burn itself out,” he said.
     Four Maple Bay boys, fishing on the Oneida Lake front, thought the
object made a noise.
     Danny Emerson, Edward and Michael Mahar and Jon Cooley saw it disappear
over the lake.

(end)

Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
Wichita, Kansas
http://www.meteoritearticles.com
http://www.kansasmeteoritesociety.com
http://www.imca.cc

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Received on Wed 29 Dec 2004 09:51:00 AM PST