[meteorite-list] Object Believed to be Meteor Lights Up Florida Coast

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Sep 30 14:36:45 2005
Message-ID: <200509301835.j8UIZPF06189_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050930/BREAKINGNEWS/50930001

Object believed to be meteor lights up Fla. coast
ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 30, 2005

MIAMI - Experts believe a meteor was visible along a large section of
the Florida skyline Thursday night, although NASA officials have not
confirmed what the intensely bright, fast object exactly was.

The glowing orb was spotted around 7 p.m.; some who saw it called county
and state officials to ensure that it wasn't a crashing aircraft.

"This one could've been from a baseball to a basketball-sized chunk of
space rock that slammed into our Earth's atmosphere at a very high
speed," Jack Horkheimer, director of the planetarium at the Miami Museum
of Science, told The Miami Herald.

National Weather Service meteorologist Barry Baxter said he isn't sure
if the object, which he believes was a meteor, was over Atlantic Ocean
waters or the Florida peninsula.

Bob Cooper, 48, of Dania Beach was in his back yard throwing a Frisbee
to his dog when the object - which he described as a flaming ball -
caught his eye.

"All of a sudden this thing shot from my right," Cooper told the South
Florida Sun-Sentinel. "And it was super fast, so you know it was in a
hurry. It turned from orange to the-center-of-the-sun yellow then it
disintegrated."

Residents from the state's Space Coast region all the way to South
Florida reported seeing the object, officials said.

A meteor is a momentary flash of light produced when a space object
penetrates Earth's atmosphere.

NASA will determine what direction the object was traveling, officials said.

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Brevard sees light
Juan Ortega
Florida Today
September 30, 2005

PORT CANAVERAL - The Coast Guard got about five calls from police
departments Thursday night in Brevard County, telling officials about
more people seeing lights in the sky.

This contrasts with Sept. 20, when about 20 calls came in. Some calls
were about a fireball sighting. Others thought a boater was in distress.

"The calls we're getting now could be a possible flare," said Dan Yates,
a Coast Guard petty officer in Port Canaveral.

But members of the Coast Guard in Fort Pierce - on an offshore vessel -
confirmed seeing a meteor Thursday night.

"We're getting tons of calls," Patrick Thibodeaux, boatswain mate second
class with the Coast Guard in Fort Pierce.

Callers described the light as a reddish-orange and lasting 20 seconds.
Received on Fri 30 Sep 2005 02:35:25 PM PDT