[meteorite-list] Bollide question

From: GeoZay at aol.com <GeoZay_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 20:12:35 EST
Message-ID: <95567.36db3008.38c5a903_at_aol.com>

Well...I'll try to take a stab at it and see where it goes. First I wish I
knew about what day of the year it was. That could give some clues as
perhaps what shower it might have belonged to. The observer described a meteor
that was probably of comet origin. the very fast velocity describes this.
To the best of my knowledge, there's been no cometary meteorites yet found
or known to have hit the ground. I suppose its not an impossibility though.
He also states that the meteor "went over the mountains". This tells me
that the meteor was at least a hundred or two miles away at that point. This
also tells me that the meteor never got close enuf to the observer, so that
he could feel any heat. As for it roaring very loudly. I kinda doubt this
for the same reasons. It was certainly too high up for sound to reach the
ground when it was at its nearest to the observer. As for feeling a pressure
force ripple thru his body...I kinda doubt this too. If he was close enuf to
see it incandescent and also feel some kind of pressure force, I'd think
his life was in great danger at that moment. Sounds like a nearby impact was
imminent, yet it cleared the mountains on the horizon. Those statements
seem to counter each other. As for the apparent reported diameter of 2 to 6
feet, I don't know how those dimensions were derived at. No doubt an
exciting event, but I kinda think grandpa might have embellished the story a tad
bit.
GeoZay
Received on Sun 07 Mar 2010 08:12:35 PM PST