[meteorite-list] Texas, New Mexico Residents Rattled by Bright Flash, Loud Boom
From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon May 8 00:08:26 2006 Message-ID: <200605080406.VAA03144_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov> http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=4865818&nav=AbC0 Residents rattled by bright flash, loud boom Thursday night ABC 7 May 5, 2006 EL PASO, TX. - Countless area residents were shaken late Thursday night by an apparent meteorite disintegrating in the skies over West Texas and Southern New Mexico. Witnesses reported seeing a trail of light streaking from east to west about 9:55pm Thursday night, followed by a bright, white flash. Reports of a massive 'boom' came in from the Upper Valley in the west to Horizon City in the east. According to Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, the control tower Holloman Air Force Base saw the streak of light at about the same time. The observatory also reports that the meteorite may have been a "bolide." The term bolide, according to the US Geological Service, is "used to imply that we do not know the precise nature of the impacting body...whether it is a rocky or metallic asteroid, or an icy comet..." Officials with the Apache Point Observatory add that the object in this particular event has "a 50% chance of being space junk, finally reentering the atmosphere." They also estimate the size of the object at somewhere between "a loaf of bread and a mid-sized boulder." The previous occurrence of a bolide strike in the Borderland region was in October 1997. At that time it was estimated that an object the size of a refrigerator entered the atmosphere over West Texas and exploded. The resultant boom from the explosion rattled homes and businesses from Fabens to Las Cruces. Received on Mon 08 May 2006 12:06:22 AM PDT |
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