[meteorite-list] Sky detonation video

[Chris Peterson]

I've personally seen weather balloons burst two times, and this is 
exactly what they look like- a bright point (visible as an extended 
object through a telescope), that suddenly fragments, the pieces falling 
downwards relatively fast. There's no combustion, just reflective mylar 
balloon material reflecting the Sun.

BTW, if the clock in the camera was correct, Venus was well below the 
horizon when the video was made.

Chris

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


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <GeoZay at aol.com>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 7:52 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Sky detonation video


>>>Yesterday I viewed a video on youtube that is utterly perplexing as 
>>>to
> what
> is being videod.
>
> At first you seem to be viewing a stationary  object in the sky near 
> Venus,
> through a high powered lens or telescope, it  is motionless for 10 - 
> 15
> seconds, then, suddenly explodes, and debris falls  to Earth for quite 
> a
> while.
>
> ??
>
> Any guesses as to what it might  be folks?<<
>
> Well...it looks like to me to be something with a relatively slow
> speed...roughly that of a balloon for example. It could be mostly 
> coming or  going away
> from the observer. If it's at a distance...like a quarter mile or 
> more, and
> moving any direction, it will still appear near motionless for the 10 
> or 15
> seconds of viewing. When it exploded, the pieces didn't appear to have 
> any
> appreciable velocity other than what a falling object would have under 
> the
> influence of gravity. Don't know what it was, but my gut is leaning 
> towards it
> being a prank. A balloon carrying a bright object of some kind 
> perhaps? The
> balloon could have been filled with hydrogen or natural gas and 
> designed (or
> accidentally) to ignite at some point. It doesn't have the appearance 
> to me  to be
> something I'd get overly concerned with...unless it was a combustible 
> over  a
> dry brushy area.
> George Zay