[meteorite-list] Bright Meteor Passes Over Australia

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Oct 29 17:32:57 2004
Message-ID: <200410292132.OAA03939_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://murraybridge.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&category=general%20news&story_id=346890&y=2004&m=10

Confirmed: meteor passes over region
The Murray Valley Standard (Australia)
October 29, 2004

WAS it a bird, was it a plane ... no it was a meteor.

Rumours have been flying thick and fast since a bright light with a
short flame and trail of white behind it crossed over the Murraylands at
10.25am on Friday.

Listeners to the local radio station were lead to believe a meteorite
landed on in a field of cows on a property just outside Mannum. The
rumours then escalated over the weekend with no-one just too sure of
exactly what happened.

But it can be confirmed a meteor did cross over the Murraylands on
Friday, but it did not land.

Astronomical Society of South Australia technical information officer
Tony Beresford said a meteor had been seen in areas from Renmark to
Adelaide before fading out.

The meteor was brighter than the full moon and left a trail of dust
which took about 10 minutes to dissipate.

A sonic boom, which occurs when the meteor enters the atmosphere below
30 kilometres, was heard at Renmark and Gumeracha.

Mr Beresford has called on people in the Murray Bridge area to contact
him if they heard the sonic boom, however he doubted it would have been
noticed over the general traffic noise in the city centre without being
mistaken for a car backfiring.

"I would be interested to see the footprint ... so anyone in the
immediate vicinity of Murray Bridge who heard the boom I would
appreciate hearing from them," he said.

The meteor travelled north-west across the State before breaking up.
Received on Fri 29 Oct 2004 05:32:54 PM PDT