[meteorite-list] Huh? PhD has a Meteor? over Houston, TX?

From: FRIES, MARC D. <marc.d.fries_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 16:11:28 +0000
Message-ID: <D0E7DB03.12D41%marc.d.fries_at_nasa.gov>

Theoretically, sure; a bolide could skip out of the atmosphere and return
on a second pass. Or at least I?ve been told this by people who?ve spent
more time on it than myself and I tend to believe them. But in that case,
?slow moving? is not an option. You would need a very fast-moving,
massive object that A) retains enough velocity to continue on after the
atmosphere slows it down, and B) has enough mass to survive the
atmospheric ablation. And I would expect it to be a mechanically tough
body, since even one fragmentation event would probably be the end of its
journey. You?d get something more like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M8LQ7_hWtE

So we?re back to a fast object again, certainly not something that someone
can video for more than three minutes like the guy did in Houston. I?m
certain the Houston event was an airplane.

Cheers,
Marc Fries

On 1/23/15, 1:21 AM, "meteorite-list-request at meteoritecentral.com"
<meteorite-list-request at meteoritecentral.com> wrote:

>On Wed, Jan 21, 2015 at 1:25 PM, drtanuki via Meteorite-list
><meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> wrote:
>>List,
>>
>>Huh? Physics/Astronomy PhD has a Meteor? over Houston, TX?
>>Looks like an aircraft contrail to me. Tell me that I am wrong.
>>Expert explains strange fireball flying over Houston area
>>KHOU
>>A slow moving meteor can make one full swing around the world before
>>crashing or disintegrating. The fireball Sterling captures is similar to
>>the one ...
>>http://www.khou.com/story/news/local/2015/01/21/expert-explains-strange-f
>>ireball-flying-over-houston-area/22088689/
>>
>>
>>Dirk Ross...Tokyo
>>______________________________________________
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Received on Fri 23 Jan 2015 11:11:28 AM PST