[meteorite-list] Possible Meteorite Crashes In Washington

[ken newton]

      http://cbs11tv.com/localnews/topstories_story_155072542.html


      CBS 11 | cbs11tv.com <http://cbs11tv.com>


      Possible Meteorite Crashes In Washington

    * No Immediate Reports Of Damage In Area South Of Olympia

Jun 3, 2004 6:22 am US/Central

A possible meteorite may have crashed into Earth about 30 miles south of 
Olympia, an astronomy professor said.

There were no immediate reports of damage.

Bright flashes and sharp booms were reported in the skies over the Puget 
Sound area early Wednesday.

Bradley Hammermaster, who teaches at the University of Washington, 
estimated that the object was about the size of a small car. He 
described it as a piece of a larger meteor.

Hammermaster told KIRO Radio shortly after 3 a.m. that a team was being 
assembled to head for the area where the object was believed to have hit 
near the tiny southwestern Washington community of Chehalis.

Witnesses along a 60-mile swath of Puget Sound said the sky lit up 
brightly shortly before 3 a.m. Many also reported booming sounds as if 
from one or more explosions.

At Whidbey Island, Petty Officer Andrew Davis said he and other saw the 
skyburst.

"It made a pretty big bang," Davis said. "We thought it could maybe be a 
meteorite or something."

Officials at the National Weather Service ruled out any possible 
weather-related causes, and duty officers at the Federal Aviation 
Administration and the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station told The 
Associated Press they knew of no civilian or military airplane problems.

© 2004 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not 
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/private/meteorite-list/attachments/20040603/c557bb5d/attachment.html>