[meteorite-list] Introducing the Worlds Newest Meteorite fall -Creston

From: Sean T. Murray <stm_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2015 13:59:09 -0500
Message-ID: <E91DD46985494AC6B397AAF278433CC3_at_PlatinumII>

Robert Ward is in the field in California, and asked me to pass this along
to the list! He recovered the first stone from the fall, and is continuing
his expedition.

Make sure to click the link below to see the story, along with photos from
Robert on his Website, robertwardmeteorites.com...

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On October 23, 2015, at 0547 UTC, a large fireball lit up the rolling hills
of wine country east of Paso Robles.

The bolide stunned onlookers with a multitude of colors as it broke up into
many pieces. The magnitude of the fall was so great that the spectacle was
even observed several states away. Dozens of witnesses close to the ground
path heard sonic booms shortly after the fireball terminated.

By the next day, the American Meteor Society had received over 120 reports.
At first I was confused by what I saw in the data in the various AMS
reports. As I sorted through a number of eye witness descriptions, it was
soon clear that there were two events near to one another, both in distance
and in time. I began working through the reports from the larger event
individually, narrowing down the area to San Luis Obispo County. And
focusing on eye witness reports in this area, I found one report in
particular that caught my attention. The eye witness reported what sounded
"like bombs falling," and that the meteor had passed directly overhead.

I contacted Marc Fries with the location and suggested the fall was probably
within a few miles of the eye witnesses location. Within minutes, Marc found
radar returns in the area that corresponded with the time of the event.

On October 27th, my wife Anne Marie and I arrived in the area under the
returns Marc Fries had discovered. Within twenty minutes, we found a stone
that had hit a metal fence post and shattered, showering the road embankment
with fragments. We recovered 395.7 grams of material from the site and
subsequently reassembled the majority of the stone.

----------------------

More here, with pictures:
http://robertwardmeteorites.com/creston-california/

We'll be posting more pictures, information and details on the expedition as
the hunt progresses.

Sean Murray
Received on Thu 19 Nov 2015 01:59:09 PM PST