[meteorite-list] Fwd: 17:15 UT slow, bright Mediterranean bolide

Tue Jul 8 22:17:34 EDT 2008

'There are a lot of ghosts on the internet.'

Hi Sterling,

Yes, but it would be nicer to find a Friendly Ghost, like tis one 
(Thuathe):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2911269.stm

Best wishes,
Doug

Meteor caused Lesotho 'poltergeist'

By David Ambrose
BBC Focus On Africa magazine

Some 400 mystery rocks were collected.  An outbreak of ghost activity 
that struck Lesotho last year has been found to have been the result of 
a spectacular meteor shower.

On 21 July, a loud noise in the sky was heard over most of the country.

Then in the village of Boqate Ha Sofonia, objects began to fall on the 
roofs of houses.

'Malino Mantsoe, one of the village residents, saw a large stone smash 
into the low-walled cooking area in front of her house, before knocking 
over and cracking a plastic container.

She blamed a "thokolosi" - a poltergeist - and sprinkled holy water 
around her house and on the stone. No more stones fell.

'Matukule Khoeletsana, another resident, also had stones bounce on her 
roof - and kept them to prove it was no bad dream.

Investigation

Now the cause of the mystery rocks has been found to have been a 
meteorite.

A rock weighing perhaps a tonne, which had been circling the sun for 
4,600 million years, had finally intercepted another body in the solar 
system - the Earth.

It arrived at perhaps 50 to 100 times the speed of sound, and hitting 
the atmosphere at this speed, exploded into thousands of pieces which 
had fallen to earth over nine different villages.

A team from the National University of Lesotho went to investigate, and 
with the help of schoolchildren and local residents collected over 400 
different stones ranging from just a few grams to over a kilogram.

There were a number of champion collectors, including a well-known 
local youth nicknamed Ramanaka, or "Father of Horns", because of his 
head-dress decorated with horns and a portrait of Nelson Mandela.

The Thuathe meteorite, as it has been christened, has ensured that 
Lesotho will now have a place in the science of meteoritics.

A full version of this article appears in the new edition of the Focus 
on Africa magazine..

BBC Focus On Africa magazine

> that must be a ghost... you are following, I think.

There are a lot of ghosts on the internet.

Sterling K. Webb
---------------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: <mexicodoug at aim.com>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 8:49 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Fwd: 17:15 UT slow,bright Mediterranean 
bolide

Hi Sterling, listees,

I believe Rob has suggested that this rocket part (3rd booster stage)
has re-entered in the reported event, so that must be a ghost on the
on-line satellite tracking program you are following, I think.  The
satellite itself is probably quite operational at the moment.  Anyway,
let me take this opportunity to correct the time of the event today
July 8 2008 from incorectly 5:15 UT to corectly  17:15 UT.  Just a
little excitement as I was hearing about this...

Best wishes,
Doug
still can't believe how fast Rob got that one ...

-----Original Message-----
From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net>
To: Rob Matson <mojave_meteorites at cox.net>; mexicodoug at aim.com;
Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Sent: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 7:41 pm
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Fwd: 5:15 UT slow, bright Mediterranean
bolide

Hi, List,

    You can watch it in realtime position at:
http://www.n2yo.com/?s=31602

    So, why was it leaving a luminous trail:
"a bright object that left a long trail"? Hmmm.
Answering my own question, it is listed as
one of "satellites with periodically varying
brightness." It must have "flashed."

Sterling K. Webb
----------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: <mexicodoug at aim.com>
To: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 7:15 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Fwd: 5:15 UT slow, bright Mediterranean bolide

Hi List, Rob, and everyone who held their breath on this one,

Please read the other half of the story - from none other than our
favorite satellite and comet bagger, Rob Matson !!!

Best wishes and better luck next time:(
Doug

PS God help us if Rob ever defects ... thanks again and I trust it was
good work!
===========================
Hi Doug,

Please feel free to forward this to the Meteorite list for me...

I just did a quick check on this, suspecting it might be a satellite
re-entry.  ... it was travelling east-to-west!", let me add that it was
actually ~because~ it was travelling east to west AND passing over
Israel that a lightbulb went off in my head.  Israeli satellites are
always launched in retrograde orbits, and I thought it would be an
amusing case of karma if this turned out to be one of their own.

Well, in short, it was:

Shavit R/B, USSPACECOM #31602, launched some time in 2007.

I just plotted its trajectory as seen from Jerusalem, and bingo.

--Rob

______________________________________________
http://www.meteoritecentral.com
Meteorite-list mailing list
Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list

______________________________________________
http://www.meteoritecentral.com
Meteorite-list mailing list
Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list

-----Original Message-----
From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net>
To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com; mexicodoug at aim.com
Sent: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 9:02 pm
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Fwd: 17:15 UT slow,bright Mediterranean 
bolide

> that must be a ghost... you are following, I think.