[meteorite-list] Fiery debris seen in Texas skies not from satellite collision, officials say

From: Eric Wichman <eric_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:16:27 -0800
Message-ID: <499920DB.8060103_at_meteoritewatch.com>

Fiery debris seen in Texas skies not from satellite collision, officials say
11:20 PM CST on Sunday, February 15, 2009
By RUDOLPH BUSH / The Dallas Morning News
rbush at dallasnews.com
Fiery debris burned through the Texas sky Sunday morning, alarming some
and enchanting others but resulting in no apparent injury or damage.
Video

 From Dallas to Austin and beyond, sightings were reported of a red and
orange fireball with a small black center speeding toward Earth before
burning out in a trail of lingering white smoke.

Roland Herwig, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration?s
southwest division, said the fireball was probably superheated debris
from a broken satellite falling to Earth.

The FAA could not directly link the debris to the reported collision
last week of Russian and U.S. communications satellites, however.
?It?s yet to be proved it?s those satellites,? Herwig said.

However, a spokeswoman for U.S. Strategic Command said the fireball
spotted in the Texas skies Sunday was unrelated to the satellite collision.
Air Force Major Regina Winchester said that Joint Space Operations
Center at California?s Vandenberg Air Force Base has been monitoring the
debris from the collision, and that could not have caused the dramatic
sight. She also said the fireball was not related to the estimated
18,000 man-made objects that the center also monitors.

?There was no predicted re-entry,? Winchester said about the objects in
Earth?s orbit.
She said it could possibly have been a natural phenomenon such as a
meteorite.

It?s unclear exactly how many pieces of debris tumbled toward Texas or
whether any more are on the way.

The potential danger from debris did prompt the FAA to warn pilots
nationwide to be aware of the hazard and to immediately report any
sightings.
State emergency management officials and local law enforcement agencies
also were on alert across much of Texas.

Based on reports of a fireball near Waco, local law enforcement officers
searched for debris but found nothing, a Texas Department of Public
Safety spokeswoman said.

Though no one could pinpoint where the debris fell or if it even
remained intact through the burnout, the fireball left an impression on
those who saw it.

They say it burned anywhere from a few seconds to nearly a minute. And
in some areas, particularly in East Texas, there were reports of a sonic
boom.

While it may not be clear for some time what fell from the sky, it
seemed to be a singular event.
Most sightings in Texas were reported about 11 a.m.

Some people thought it was a meteor. Others thought perhaps it was a
plane crashing.

Doug Schmidt of Richardson was driving south on Central Expressway near
the Bush Turnpike when he saw a flash of light in the sky.
?It was like a ball of flame with a tail. It looked like a meteor,? he
said. ?There was flame and then a flash and smoke trailing it. I said
?Wow, look at that.? ?

Farther south, in Ovilla, Chris Weaver said he stepped outside and just
by chance looked south. That?s when he saw a flash of orange moving fast
in the sky before burning into a streak of white smoke.

?If you were looking up at the southern sky, you couldn?t miss it,? he said.

There have been scattered reports across the country of debris falling
to Earth since the Russian and U.S. satellites collided Tuesday about
500 miles above Earth.

The collision occurred over Siberia and sheared thousands of shards of
debris through Earth?s orbit.

Pieces of that debris will continue to float through orbit for thousands
of years or more, while other pieces will at times fall to Earth,
probably likely burning up as they pass through the atmosphere, experts say.

Staff writer Jeff Mosier and The Associated Press contributed to this
report.

SOURCE:
http://www.quickdfw.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/021609dnmetdebris.1c083e1f.html

If you have any info on this meteor/fireball I would greatly appreciate
any info you could provide. Thanks!
http://www.meteoritesusa.com/blog/meteorite-information/report-a-fireball/

Regards,
Eric Wichman
Meteorites USA


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Received on Mon 16 Feb 2009 03:16:27 AM PST