[meteorite-list] Bright Streak of Light in Sky Reported from Southern Oregon to Seattle

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Mar 21 13:24:56 2005
Message-ID: <200503140642.j2E6gZC28050_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5289471.html

Streak of light in sky reported from southern Oregon to Seattle
Associated Press
March 13, 2005

PORTLAND, Ore. - Dozens of residents in the Pacific Northwest reported
seeing a bright streak of light as it flashed across the sky, startling
witnesses from southern Oregon to the Seattle area, according to officials.

Scientists said the flaming object was probably a meteor, and that it
likely disintegrated before any fragments fell into the Pacific Ocean.

"It was like a big ball of fire,'' said Summer Jensen, who was in her
living room Saturday night when she saw the flash of light outside her
Portland home.

Michael O'Connor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration's
regional office in Renton, Wash., said he fielded numerous calls from
people reporting they had seen a bright streak across the sky shortly
before 8 p.m.

He said police, pilots and some air traffic controllers described it as
"a green ball of fire with a long tail.''

"It appears to have come down over the ocean,'' said Dick Pugh of the
Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory in Portland. He said the object flew over
the Pacific Coast, streaking along from south to north.

Jim Todd, planetarium director at the Oregon Museum of Science &
Industry, said that if a meteor had entered the atmosphere during the
day, it may not even have been noticed.

"It creates a bright contrast against the night sky,'' Todd said.

Last year, a meteor that appeared like a fireball was sighted over
western Washington state. In March 2003, residents in four Midwestern
states also reported seeing a disintegrating meteorite flash across the sky.

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http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20050313/topstories/105163.shtml

Quake, fireball give area two jolts
CINDY YINGST
THE OLYMPIAN (Olympia, Washington)
March 13, 2005

A fireball flashed across South Sound and the Northwest shortly before 8
p.m. Saturday.

In the Olympia area, the fireball was described as a blazing flash of
green or turquoise light with a tail that moved from east to west in the
southern sky.

The mystery light was reported as far north as Canada and as far south
as Medford, Ore.

Twenty minutes earlier, a small earthquake struck north of Olympia.

The Capital Communications Center, which dispatches emergency calls to
fire and law enforcement agencies, was flooded with calls when the
fireball first was spotted at 7:55 p.m. The earthquake, however,
generated no calls, a dispatcher said.

The quake was centered seven miles south of the Mason County community
of Allyn and 12 miles east/northeast of Shelton, according to the U.S.
Geological Survey.

The magnitude 3.3 earthquake that hit at 7:37 p.m. was in no way related
to the fireball, but many people thought it was odd that two somewhat
unusual events occurred so close together.

Caryn Kennemore had just picked up her children and returned to her home
near the Amtrak station in Lacey when she spotted the fireball.

"It was huge, almost like a green color, a metallicky green," Kennemore
said. "It looked just like a shooting star that was really close. ... It
was just amazing."

Scientists at the Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory at Portland State
University said it's unknown whether the bright light contained a
meteorite, which is a chunk of stone or metal from a meteoroid that
makes it into the Earth's atmosphere.

But it definitely was a fireball, said Dick Pugh, field scientist at the
laboratory.

A fireball is the light produced when meteorites vaporize, and most
meteorites begin vaporizing about 85 miles above the Earth, he said.
They travel about 50,000 mph and burn up quickly.

"I believe it's a rock from space burning up in the atmosphere," Pugh
said. "It's not unusual; we get them about once a month. ... If it's
clear, more people see them. I'd say this one was a little larger than
most."

The last time such a large fireball was visible in South Sound was early
on the morning of June 3.

There were no reports of a sonic boom, Pugh said. "That means it didn't
land."

In Oregon, some residents reported the bright light as a flaming object
that generated noise that was heard from Salem to Medford.

Summer Jensen of Portland said she was sitting in her living room with
her father when she saw the flash of light outside and rushed to see
what it was.

"I've never seen anything like that," Jensen said. She added that the
object appeared to be moving slowly compared to a typical meteor, or
"shooting star."

Observers on the Oregon coast described it as red and noisy. A resident
in Seaside, Ore., told Northwest Cable News that she spotted the
fireball headed over the ocean.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Received on Mon 14 Mar 2005 01:42:33 AM PST