[meteorite-list] Colorado spings event

From: Chris Peterson <clp_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 2010 09:47:28 -0700
Message-ID: <F4297F6B7665404E9ECD8AFB35BF5D40_at_bellatrix>

It doesn't have to be a sonic boom, that's just one possibility with a
meteorite fall. In this case, the sound was described as being like an
explosion or boom, both by witnesses inside the building as well as several
blocks away. Some sort of mechanical noise from impact is certainly
possible, although the descriptions are a bit off for that. One witness saw
a flash of light and heard a boom, in the direction of the bar and low to
the ground. Again, not consistent with a meteorite impact.

In general, most meteorite falls are silent, with no sonic boom and no
significant impact sounds.

It could be a meteorite, but the evidence argues better for other
explanations. It isn't even certain that something hit the building- this is
exactly the sort of damage you see from small explosives (put an M80 on a
sheet of plywood, and it will look just like the roof of this building).

Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com


----- Original Message -----
From: <meteoritehunter at comcast.net>
To: <GeoZay at aol.com>
Cc: <clp at alumni.caltech.edu>; <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 9:32 AM
Subject: Colorado spings event

> Why does there have to be a sonic boom? In New Orleans, a stone of over 20
> kg crashed through two floors of a house and ended up in the dirt under
> the house, major city, nobody saw or heard anything other than the
> neighbors who thought a car accident had happened.
>
> Kitchener, ONT, a guy golfing saw a 500 gram stone plop down in the grass
> a few feet from him, no sounds heard.
>
> Can't this be a small meteorite, which somehow escaped detection.
>
> Something hit that building, and the object has not been found. That means
> it was pocketed, because it did not evaporate into thin air.
Received on Wed 06 Jan 2010 11:47:28 AM PST