[meteorite-list] Mystery Light Seen Across Wales

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 08:40:56 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <200701241640.IAA16147_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/north_west/6294099.stm

Mystery light seen across Wales
BBC News
January 24, 2007

A flashing light reported "streaking" through the skies across much of
Wales at breakfast time could have been a meteor, an expert believes.

The light was first seen at 0730 GMT, with one eyewitness describing it
as a "long line, thicker at one end, bluey-green and flashing".

Reports of the light came in from the Lleyn Peninsula through to Swansea.

Jay Tate from Spaceguard UK said it was most likely to be a piece of
space debris entering the earth's atmosphere.

"It was frightening," said Morfudd Parry Roberts from Aberdaron, Gwynedd.

My initial thoughts were that it was a plane on fire
Andrew Curley, Penrhyncoch, Aberystwyth

"I was sitting having a cup of coffee by the window when I saw it (the
light) move from the north towards the south.

"It was a long line, thicker at the front end. It was quite frightening
because it seemed so big."

"It was a bluey-green and flashing. It was at least 50 times bigger than
a shooting star and seemed to be gliding through the sky quite low down,
not falling."

Witnesses said the light lasted for a few seconds.

"I'm just glad other people saw it as well," she added.

Andrew Curley, 32, from Penrhyncoch, near Aberystwyth, was out walking
his dog when he spotted a "huge fireball" racing out to sea.

"My initial thoughts were that it was a plane on fire, but it was far
too big and going far too quickly for it to be an aircraft," said Mr
Curley.

"It must have been something like a meteorite because it just lit up the
sky."

White hot air

The Spaceguard UK centre at Knighton, Powys, is a privately-funded body
looking at the threat posed to the earth by collisions with asteroids
and comets.

"Without having seen it myself I can't be certain, but from the
description it sounds like a fireball, which is a big shooting star,"
said Jay Tate from the centre.

The earth was hit by a "couple of tonnes" of debris from space every
day, Mr Tate added, but usually they were small particles about the size
of a grain of sand.

Occasionally, however, debris was larger and from the number of people
who saw the light on Wednesday he estimated it would have been about the
size of an orange.

"If it was bigger than that we would have heard a lot more about it," he
said.

The particles hit the earth's atmosphere at between 45-50,000 mph and
the light seen is the white hot air around it, he said.

The light is often described as green, he added, depending on the
make-up of the rock.

Roger Reed of Milford Haven Coastguard said they received two 999 calls
from people who thought a ship might have sent out a distress flare.

They initially sent two teams out, at Aberydyfi and Broadhaven, but
called them back when further calls suggested it was a shooting star.

"We had the first call at 0734. Then we had calls in from LNG site
workers, the Pendine range vessel and someone on his way to work saying
it looked like a shooting star," said Mr Reed.

Swansea coastguards also logged a call by someone who had seen a similar
light, he added.

"The colour of the light seen varied, we had two say it was white, and
one say it was green."
Received on Wed 24 Jan 2007 11:40:56 AM PST