[meteorite-list] Mysterious chunks of ice pelt Iowa town

From: Adam Hupe <raremeteorites_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2007 08:54:30 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <490514.98639.qm_at_web30703.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

I think the organic material (corn kernel clasts in
spent brown fuel rods) embedded in the ice are a
pretty good indication to where the ice chunks
originated. Notice in the image how far away the
homeowner is keeping the ice chunk that damaged the
house away from her nose, PU!

All the Best,

Adam





--- Jerry <grf2 at verizon.net> wrote:

> Doesn't anyone want to address the origins of these
> and all the other
> instances reported on the List over the years? Or
> are we all convinced
> they're from errant jetliners poopers?
> Jerry Flaherty
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mike Groetz" <mpg444 at yahoo.com>
> To: "Meteorite List"
> <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Friday, July 27, 2007 1:25 PM
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Mysterious chunks of ice
> pelt Iowa town
>
>
> > There are some pretty good pictures on the CNN
> site.
> > Everyone keep their head down....
> > Mike
> >
> >
>
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/27/falling.ice.ap/index.html
> >
> > Mysterious chunks of ice pelt Iowa town
> > Story Highlights
> > One falling chunk of ice reportedly weighed 50
> pounds
> >
> > No one on the ground hurt by falling chunks of ice
> >
> > Possible sources of ice: Airplane or a
> thunderstorm
> >
> > DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) -- Large chunks of ice, one of
> them
> > reportedly about 50 pounds, fell from the sky in
> this
> > northeast Iowa city, smashing through a woman's
> roof
> > and tearing through nearby trees.
> >
> > Authorities were unsure of the ice's origin but
> have
> > theorized the chunks either fell from an airplane
> or
> > naturally accumulated high in the atmosphere --
> both
> > rare occurrences.
> >
> > "It sounded like a bomb!" 78-year-old Jan Kenkel
> said.
> > She said she was standing in her kitchen when an
> ice
> > chunk crashed through her roof at about 5:30 a.m.
> > Thursday. "I jumped about a foot!"
> >
> > She traced the damage to her television room,
> where
> > she found a messy pile of insulation, bits of
> ceiling,
> > splintered wood and about 50 pounds of solid ice.
> >
> > Karle and Mary Beth Wigginton, who live a block
> away,
> > heard a loud "whoosh" coming through the trees.
> They
> > discovered several large chunks of ice in front of
> > their home and some smaller ones in the yard and
> in
> > the street.
> >
> > "I could see where branches were shredded, which
> told
> > me it was definitely coming out of the sky," Karle
> > Wigginton said.
> >
> > He estimated the original chunk of ice was the
> size of
> > a basketball. "It was pure white," he said. "The
> main
> > parts I picked up were very smooth."
> >
> > Elizabeth Cory, a spokeswoman for the Federal
> Aviation
> > Administration, said investigators would contact
> > Kenkel to try to determine the source of the ice.
> >
> > "It is very uncommon for something like this to
> come
> > from an aircraft," Cory said. "That is really
> unusual
> > if it is pure white ice, especially at this time
> of
> > year."
> >
> > Occasionally, aircraft latrines discharge contents
> at
> > altitude, resulting in chunks of descending ice.
> > Airplanes also sometimes accumulate ice on their
> edges
> > in certain atmospheric conditions, including high
> > altitude and extreme moisture, said Robert
> Grierson,
> > the Dubuque Regional Airport manager and a pilot.
> >
> > The moisture involved in such a scenario could
> have
> > come from the tops of strong thunderstorms.
> However,
> > Dubuque had clear skies at the time the ice fell,
> said
> > Andy Ervin, a meteorologist with the National
> Weather
> > Service in Davenport. "There was nothing unusual
> going
> > on," he said.
> >
> > David Travis, a professor of geography and geology
> and
> > an associate dean at the University of
> > Wisconsin-Whitewater, has studied the phenomenon
> of
> > large chunks of ice falling from a clear sky. He
> said
> > it's possible the ice could have been a
> megacryometeor
> > -- "similar to a hailstone, but without the
> > thunderstorm."
> >
> > Travis is part of a research team that has
> documented
> > more than 50 possible megacryometeor cases during
> the
> > past five years. Some involve ice chunks the size
> of
> > microwave ovens.
> >
> > "It is hard to keep something like that suspended
> in
> > air without a thunderstorm," Travis said.
> >
> > Most megacryometeor sightings have occurred in
> coastal
> > areas, where atmospheric turbulence helps keep ice
> > suspended long enough to grow into large chunks.
> >
> > Travis' research team speculates the phenomenon
> could
> > be linked to global warming, suggesting that
> climate
> > change might make the tropopause portion of the
> > atmosphere colder, moister and more turbulent.
> >
> > "But those don't typically happen in the summer
> time,"
> > Travis said. "It seems like they are mostly
> associated
> > with the passage of passing cold fronts."
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
____________________________________________________________________________________
> > Looking for a deal? Find great prices on flights
> and hotels with Yahoo!
> > FareChase.
> > http://farechase.yahoo.com/
> > ______________________________________________
> > Meteorite-list mailing list
> > Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> >
>
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
>
> ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
Received on Sat 28 Jul 2007 11:54:30 AM PDT