[meteorite-list] Perhaps another fall??

Jerry Flaherty grf2 at verizon.net
Tue Dec 30 16:17:48 EST 2008


Wow! best around here since Peeksill.
Need some more reports to detrermine if anything hit the ground.
 Hopeful from Plymouth, MA
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Woolard" <meteoritefinder at yahoo.com>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 2:24 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Perhaps another fall??


> List,
>
> I don't know if any of you found the posting I made the other day about 
> the possible CA fall interesting or not, but if so, here is a report on 
> perhaps yet another ( ??? ) on the other side of the USA.
>
>              *******************************************
>
>
> NEW ENGLAND FIREBALL: Last night, Dec. 29th at 9:30 p.m. EST, sky watchers 
> in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey witnessed 
> a magnitude -9 fireball that exploded colorfully in mid-flight. No one 
> knows if fragments of the meteoroid reached the ground.
>
> Location: North Bay Shore, New York
> Comments: Dan Linek: "At approximately 2130 EST, I was sitting in a car 
> and noticed a quick bright light right in front of my eyes. It took me a 
> couple of seconds to realize I had just seen the brightest meteor of my 
> life. It came out of the eastern sky heading to the north about 20-30 
> degrees above the horizon near the constellation Cancer. It was a bright 
> blue color with a hint of green and lasted about a half second to a full 
> second. In that short time, it seemed as though there were a few pieces 
> falling right below it but I do not think anything reached the ground. I 
> estimate it was about a -9 magnitude based on -8 magnitude Iridium 
> Satellite Flares I have seen."
>
> Location: New Hampshire
> Comments: Joe Hanley: "I was driving due south on Route 93 in southern New 
> Hampshire at 9:30 p.m. EST when my wife Mary and I saw what appeared to be 
> a low and very bright shooting star flying across the sky from the east 
> towards the west. We were amazed at the how low, bright and extended it 
> was when it then burst into colorful pieces, leaving a very quick and 
> multi-colored trail."
>
> Location: Roslyn, New York
> Comments: Bernadette of Glen Cove, New York: "Tonight at 9:30 pm EST my 
> husband and I were driving east on the expressway in the town of Roslyn, 
> NY. We couldn't help but see the brightest meteor! I am sure it lasted 
> more than 7 seconds. It was very bright with a long tail. I feel I saw an 
> orange color as well. This certainly makes up for all those nights I have 
> stared into the sky hoping to see something an felt disappointed."
>
> Location: Cummington, Massachusetts
> Comments: Steve Sauter: "I was driving East on Rte. 9 in Cummington, Ma. 
> on 12/29. My daughter and her fiance were in the south passenger seats 
> when both yelled, fireworks, whoa! Sparks, a tail! They then described a 
> huge kelly green ball of sparks, "falling straight to the ground with a 
> tail of green sparks stretching up and to the left (east). Extremely 
> bright, large. This should mean a landing around Windsor, Ma."
>
> Location: Mansfield, Massachusetts
> Comments: Andy Stearns: "Wow! At approximately 9:30PM local time I 
> witnessed a very bright fireball against a clear starlit sky. It initially 
> appeared between 45° and 60° above the southern horizon and approximately 
> 90° above the eastern horizon. It was traveling west. Unfortunately, my 
> house obstructed my view at about 45° on the western horizon. The core of 
> the fireball was distinctly green with a very bright white trail. There 
> may have been some blue fringes. Although the view became obstructed by my 
> house, there was about 2 seconds where the western sky was illuminated by 
> the meteor's travel west. This illumination was terminated by a green 
> flash that lit up the entire western quadrant of the sky. My impression 
> was that the fireball exploded, but unfortunately, I could not witness any 
> fragmenting or the actual explosion due to my obstruction. From first 
> observation until the explosion was about 4 seconds (no more than 5). I've 
> witnessed thousands
> of meteors over my 43 year lifetime including 1 meteor burst several years 
> ago (which was brilliant white). This ranks #1 to me due to the intensity 
> of the light, the brilliant green color, and the green flash it produced 
> over the western horizon."
>
> Location: Perry Hall, Maryland
> Comments: Dan Dutrow: "While driving home tonight around 9:30 PM, I saw 
> something I've never seen before. While headed North in Perry Hall, 
> Maryland on I-95, I witnessed a green flash of light rapidly falling away 
> from me to the east. It was either a rocket hurling towards Best Buy or a 
> meteor flying North over Perry Hall and into the horizon, hopefully the 
> latter."
>
> Location: Bangor, Maine.
> Comments: Edward W. Gould: "Last night, I was in my backyard with one of 
> our dogs, when I saw a bright flash out of the corner of my eye. It lasted 
> long enough for me to turn and catch a glimpse of it as it shot low across 
> the southern sky traveling from east to west. It was a bright green ball 
> with a long tail. What struck me was both how bright it was and how low in 
> the sky it was, just visible above the tree and house lines. I thanked my 
> dog for having to go out to give me the opportunity to see it!"
>
> Location: Maine
> Comments: Nicole Ricci: "I live in a very small town in Southern Maine and 
> went out around 9:30pm to let my dog out and saw a orange ball fall from 
> the sky."
>
> Location: Sunderland, Massachusetts
> Comments: Kris Moriarty: "My daughters and I were on our way home at 9:30 
> pm last night when we saw a greenish oblong shaped fireball in the sky. It 
> was shooting down & had a fiery orange tail. It then seemed to break apart 
> as it came down. We were driving on route 47 south in Sunderland, Ma. It 
> was so neat!!! Thanks for letting us know we weren't crazy & weren’t the 
> only ones who witnessed such a spectacular event!"
>
> Location: Coyle Field, Chatsworth, New Jersey
> Comments: Jim Mack, Willingboro Astronomical Society: "There were a number 
> of observers at Coyle field last night and you either saw the fire ball or 
> saw the bright light from it. After reading your article on the New 
> England Fireball I put together the night's events which leads me to 
> beleive what we saw was the same Fireball! While observing M42 thru my 
> friend Mitch's new 24" StarMaster we saw the Fireball looking towards the 
> North East everything lit up. Shortly afterward we packed up as clouds 
> came in and went home. When I was leaving, the clock in my car said 
> 10:10."
>
> Location: Monson, Maine
> Comments: Eric B Smith: "Was on my computer Monday evening and saw the 
> fireball out the window seeming to come from ENE to WSW. Very bright. By 
> the time I got outside it was gone."
>
> Location: Belmont, MA
> Comment: Alison Anderson: "I was sitting indoors at my computer, in front 
> of a window, and saw a bright and large ball flash across the sky at 9:30 
> pm. It went from SSE to S before my view was blocked by a neighboring 
> house. The fireball was bright white, brighter than the moon (I could see 
> it through my window, despite reflections of indoor lighting), and its 
> size was about a quarter of a full moon. My viewing was very brief, 
> perhaps only one or two seconds."
>
> Location: Boxford, MA
> Comments: Paul Siebols: "I was outside and already looking at the 
> constellation Orion when I saw an orange streak heading approximately SW. 
> After a momentary fade, it brightened intensely. I did not see 
> disintegration from my vantage point because of trees, but the fireball 
> origin was approximately in the Monoceros or Lepus area between Sirius and 
> Orion's Belt. It was a beautiful sight to witness, and among the brightest 
> I have seen."
>
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