[meteorite-list] Satellite Reentry Witness

From: Larry Lebofsky <lebofsky_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Jun 2 21:51:28 2006
Message-ID: <1149247245.44801f0d72043_at_hindmost.LPL.Arizona.EDU>

Hi:

Make that 2!

Sorry for the delayed response, but weeks behind reading all of my email.

Long ago, when I was a graduagte student (early 1970s), two of us were driving
up Mt. Wilson (north of Pasadena, CA) to observe. We saw something out of the
window and actually had time to stop. I loked like a bolide, but was moving
relatively slowly. At first we thought it could have been a plane or something.

When we got to the top of the mountain, we happened to mention it to some of
the other astronomers up there. Ten minutes later, I was live on a local (Loos
Angeles) radio station as an expert on things falling from the sky!

I had no idea what the heck it was, but given that it was too slow for a
bolide (I thought) I took a chance and said that maybe it was a satellite.

Sure enough, the next day, the newspaper quoted me, but said that it had been
identified by "government officials" as a Russian booster!

At least I got one thing right as a graduate student.

Larry

Quoting Kevin Fly Hill <khill_at_cpsmedical.com>:

> "How many on this list have ever seen a satellite
> reentry? I'd be surprised if the answer is more than one."
>
> You might want to start with at least a startled look.
>
> March 25, 1988. Big'un -- Discarded Soviet cargo vessel came in over Texas
> (on it's way to Canada). Wildest thing I've ever seen in the sky.
> Witnessed by about two hundred people in Tyler, Texas at public gathering.
> This thing had reports in from all over the country. It was everything that
>
> the Space Shuttle was except at night - A major piece with multiple chunks
> giving off red, green and blue streaks. It moved South to North straight
> overhead going down to the horizon. I had just turned to wave goodbye to
> some friends as I was leaving a tour of historic homes -- The McClendon
> Home, when I spotted the fireball. I began shouting to alert the other
> folks and we all watched it slowly move off.
>
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Received on Fri 02 Jun 2006 07:20:45 AM PDT