[meteorite-list] NPA 10-10-1997 Monohans Meteorite, Meteor Report

[MARK BOSTICK]

Paper: Syracuse Herald-Journal
City: Syracuse, New York
Date: Friday, October 10, 1997
Page: A10

Midday meteor show startles Southwest

     EL PASO, Texas (AP) - It wasn't the end of the world.  It just looked 
like it to the people who saw a cosmic fireworks show over Southwest skies.
     A meteor streaking through midday skies above West Texas and New Mexico 
on Thursday sent residents scurrying to their phones to report what many 
feared was an airplane exploding or some kind of aerial collision.
     Robert Simpson saw it from his home near Fort David and was delighted.  
But then, he had a better idea of what it was.
     "It always kind of floors you." said Simpson, a spokesman for McDonald 
Observatory, 175 miles southeast of El Paso.
     The meteor appeared at 12:47 p.m. as a flash about as bright as the 
surface of a setting sun, he said.
     "If it had happened at night it would have lit up the countryside as 
bright as day," said Bill Wren of the observatory.
     Fire and police agencies in El Paso County and southern New Mexico were 
flooded with reports of an explosion that shook homes and jangled nerves.  A 
police helicopter flying about 25 miles east of the city spotted an acre of 
scorched ranchland, and authorities believe it might be the area where the 
meteor hit.

(end)


Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
Wichita, Kansas
http://www.meteoritearticles.com
http://www.kansasmeteoritesociety.com
http://www.imca.cc

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The NPA in the subject line, stands for Newspaper Article. The old list 
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