[meteorite-list] Derek Sears and the Paragould Meteorite

From: bernd.pauli_at_paulinet.de <bernd.pauli_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:32:51 2004
Message-ID: <DIIE.0000003E00001C27_at_paulinet.de>

> Hancock stated he has contacted ... UA faculty
> member Dr. Derek Sears who has been instrumental
> in the displaying of the meteorite at UA

> According to Hancock, Sears has not been willing to
> relinquish possession of the meteorite, which is being
> used for scientific purposes at UA.

Hello All,

Derek Sears published a booklet on Arkansas falls and finds with
two eyewitness reports gathered by C.C. Wylie and H.H. Nininger:

Near Beach Grove, Arkansas, two young men, Charlie Norman and Willie Allison,
were going fishing. They were driving in a farm wagon when the landscape lighted
up; it seemed to them brighter than day. Looking up they saw a ball of fire with a
tail to it coming from the northeast. It passed overhead, and went out at an altitude
of about 20 degrees in the southwest. The team, accustomed to bright automobile
lights, paid little attention to the display, and the boys drove on without change
of pace for perhaps a hundred yards. Here, an explosion which jarred things like an
earthquake startled the men and caused the horses to plunge. The first blast seemed
to come from about where the meteor had disappeared, and following this a roar as
though a big train were passing rolled back along the path of the meteor. It crashed
back to overhead in "no time," and then on to the northeast, the rumbling being audible
for perhaps half a minute. At this point, according to Charlie, Willie wanted to turn
around and go back home, However, when they had quieted the team and talked things over,
the two men decided to go on with their fishing trip.

Eyewitness report no. 2 is a very sad, a very moving account:

At Poplar Bluff, Missouri, a father was returning from a trip to the doctor. His child was seriously
ill, and his nerves were worn from loss of sleep and worry. In his own words, "I was walking along
the road and all at once the earth lit up as light as day. I looked up at the moon and saw a ball of
fire with a long tail of fire to it coming out of the east. It looked like it was going to hit me so
I ran to get out of its way and just before it got to me it burst into flames and went out. In about
one minute the earth shook like an earthquake. When I got in the house my wife was crying and said she
believed that was a sign our baby was going to die, and we lost our baby four days after that happened."

Reference:

SEARS D.W.G. (1987) Thunderstones - A study of meteorites based
on falls and finds in Arkansas (University of Arkansas Press).

To: libawc_at_emory.edu
    jsinclairjr_at_earthlink.net
    meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
Received on Wed 17 Mar 2004 10:59:12 AM PST


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