[meteorite-list] Huge Explosion Rattles New Zealand

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Sep 12 11:19:42 2006
Message-ID: <200609121519.IAA28386_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411416/828926

Big bang rattles Canterbury
Newstalk ZB/One News (New Zealand)
Sep 12, 2006

The massive bang that rattled Christchurch just before 3pm on Tuesday
appears to have been caused by a meteorite, but it is still not clear
whether it bounced back into space or broke up and crashed to Earth.

The sonic boom was so powerful it shook buildings across the Canterbury
region, and even registered on seismic drums used to monitor earthquakes.

Hundreds of people called police about the bang and several witnesses
reported seeing the meteorite stream across the sky in Hinds. Seconds
later it was spotted over Hanmer Springs in North Canterbury.

Many said the bang was so loud they thought it was a plane blowing up or
an earthquake.

"We received about a hundred calls in a ten minute period - 25 percent
of those were to the fire service, the rest were to police. Essentially
all people could tell us was that they heard a loud bang," Inspector
Mike Coulter says.

Police believe it was space junk re-entering the atmosphere, but there
have been no reports of damage.

However meteorite hunters in the South Island may be in for a tough time
searching for the remnants of the rock.

Professor John Baggeley, who operates a meteor radar for Canterbury
University, says finding it would be like looking for a needle in a
haystack.

He says people expecting to find a smouldering rock will be disappointed
as it will be cold now that it has come to Earth.

A Canterbury astronomer says the meteor was probably travelling low and
at great speed.

"When it hits the atmosphere it creates a ram phenomenon - that is the
pressure of the atmosphere moving against it is what heats it up. Being
so bright to be seen during the day and making a sound like a solar boom
it would officially be called a bolite for astronomical purposes, which
is an unusual event," associate professor at the Canterbury Astronomical
Society, Euan Mason, says.

The last big meteor sighting in the South Island was in the Nelson
region nearly two years ago.

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http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3794985a10,00.html
 
Huge explosion likely caused by meteor
www.stuff.co.nz (New Zealand)
12 September 2006

A meteorite is believed to have burned up over Canterbury today before
slamming into the ground in a field.

A loud boom heard throughout the region was most likely to be from a
meteorite, up to the size of a medicine ball, Stardome Observatory in
Auckland says.

The loud boom was heard over Canterbury, with sightings as far afield as
Hanmer Springs in North Canterbury, and Hinds in Mid-Canterbury.

Observatory spokesman Andrew Buckingham told NZPA: "We're still finding
out what's going on".

Initial reports had come through the police communications system, with
follow ups from eyewitness accounts.

"It sounds like a large meteor coming down... soccer ball size upwards,"
Mr Buckingham said.

It was more likely to be one large rock entering the earth's atmosphere
as a fireball, rather than a meteor shower.

The boom was either the meteor breaking the sound barrier or exploding
as it burned up.

Stardome Observatory in Auckland's spokesman Andrew Buckingham said it
was not a particularly unusual event.

New Zealand had one or two fireballs a year.

This one had been "at a time and place where people have seen it".

It sounded very similar to a bright fireball seen in Taranaki on July 7,
1999, he said.

Stardome wanted to see camera or film footage of the fireball, he said.

Emergency services were inundated with calls from the public about the
noise, with initial reports suggesting a meteor strike.

A Christchurch Fire Communications spokesman said the first calls from
the public started at 2.53pm today, with people reporting windows
rattling and the air "shaking".

There was speculation a "sonic boom" had been caused by space debris, he
said.

Several people reported seeing a glowing red ball streaking over the
Canterbury sky.

"Whilst sunning myself in Ilam, I saw a bright meteorite fly high over
one of the buildings with a yellow tinge. It continued for about five
seconds before breaking off into two smaller pieces and disapearing.
Seconds later a loud rumble permeated the air, which startled me," said
Georgia Weaver from the University of Canterbury.

The meteor has shown up on the McQueen's Valley seismograph.

A GNS Science spokeswoman said they were aware of the incident.

"Something has hit the ground hard, it's not an earthquake," she said.

An Air Force spokesman told NZPA none of their aircraft were responsible
- none of the current fleet went fast enough to create a sonic boom.

The Christchurch airport had reported they had no planes that were
capable of making such a noise.

Kevin Graham, garage workshop owner in Rolleston - 22km southwest of
Christchurch - told NZPA when he heard the boom his first thought was it
was a September 11 anniversary attack.

"I don't frighten very easily, but I was just about sh**ing myself."

Mr Graham said he was inside his workshop at the time the boom hit.

"I've been talking to my wife at Addington and she had run outside
because she thought the stand was going to collapse. And I ran outside
because I thought my place was going to collapse as well."

Mr Graham said he could feel the shock waves in the air so thought it
was close, but a truck driver had reported to a local rep he had seen a
meteorite fall from the sky into a field in Hinds, 19km southwest of
Ashburton.

He said the sound was like a CNG tank exploding.

"It started off with a little boom then a real massive boom. And I mean
massive - like the daddy of all booms."

The noise was so loud it shook the garage, he said. "I was wondering
what happened and I thought 'Oh, September 12', because we're a day
ahead of the States.

"As you do, because everyone is talking about it at the moment."

Hanmer Springs police officer Senior Constable Chris Hughey likened a
meteor shooting across the skies over Canterbury today to Haley's Comet
which he saw when it last passed near Earth in 1986.

Mr Hughey said he saw the meteor to the south of the North Canterbury
resort town just before 3pm and it appeared to be coming in on a 30deg
angle travelling west to east.

"All it looked like was a vapour trail from a plane coming in at huge
altitude," he said.

"It was a crystal clear day here in Hanmer and it appeared to have a red
ball or something at the front. Then it split into about three and just
disappeared."

Mr Hughey said he did not hear the loud sonic boom that was heard in
Christchurch and elsewhere.

"We didn't have the explosion. It wasn't that overly startling from
here, but it was something I've never seen before."

Mr Hughey said he'd seen a few small meteors "coming in here and there"
over the years but nothing like today's one. . ."never coming in on that
angle.

"I've seen them going horizontally across the sky.

"I've never seen one coming virtually straight down like that.

"It just disintegrated at great altitude. It was moving, too. I don't
know what speed they come in at, but it was going."

Mr Hughey said the show lasted no more than a few seconds.

"I called a radio station and told them to expect a few calls," he said.
"I don't think they believed me."
Received on Tue 12 Sep 2006 11:19:39 AM PDT