[meteorite-list] some Japanese researchers question US Colorado fall

[Chris Peterson]

I think it's extremely unlikely that this was a natural object. The 
location, velocity, and 
time(http://www.cloudbait.com/science/fireball20070104.html) are 
precisely as expected for the 29679 SL-4 rocket body. Also, if you've 
seen the video caught by news helicopters, this really looks nothing 
like a normal meteor. It is fragmenting into hundreds, maybe thousands 
of pieces- as you would expect for a highly inhomogeneous object. This 
is fragmenting far more than you see even in meteors with shallow paths 
that break apart (Peekskill, our Colorado Oct 1 event, etc).

There is a report of debris on the ground in Wyoming; it will be 
interesting to see if that gets confirmed.

Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "drtanuki" <drtanuki at yahoo.com>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 1:18 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] some Japanese researchers question US Colorado 
fall


> Dear List,
>  The is some word filtering through the Japanese
> network that the Colorado fall may or may NOT have
> been rocket debris and there is still a chance that it
> may be a meteorite.  Sorry I cannot go into detail
> because of the nature of the network.
>  So, if I were in Colorado I would pack my bags and
> head to out.  Best in recovery, Dirk...Tokyo