[meteorite-list] Suffolk man says he saw meteor hit UPDATE

[Meteorites USA]

Hi all,

Here's a comment on the PilotOnline.com website report:

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/04/suffolk-man-says-he-saw-meteor-hit

UPDATE: Comment Submitted by funtogo on Sat, 04/04/2009 at 5:19 pm.
------------------------------------------
After Joe told me Wednesday night about the sighting, I called the 
Virginian Pilot to give them his name. The Pilot called him. He was not 
so interested in reporting it. He had not read the paper and did not 
know about the hub-bub until Tuesday. He did immediately call a friend 
to tell them what he had seen, but then let it go. He just thought he 
had seen a shooting star. A once in a time event, but not knowing that 
so many others had seen it, he just accepted it as an unusual event. He 
said he looked around and there were no other cars within sight so I 
doubt anyone else saw it. He was returning Sunday night with my 
granddaughter Alana from visiting family in Maryland. He has the toll 
receipt showing that he paid the toll at 9:29 pm. That would put him on 
the bridge about 9:35 assuming the clocks at the toll booth are 
accurate. Could be off a few minutes. Based on reports from those at the 
ocean front saying they saw it in the northwest sky, this would be 
consistant with where it landed. This spot is about half way from 
Maryland and North Carolina where people live that reported the 
sighting. I accept his report as accurate and agree that someone should 
look for it. The water...
------------------------------------------

What if? If the times are correct on the receipts, they correspond to 
the data time and location.

Eric

P.S. Don't forget he did NOT hear the sonic boom, and instead heard the 
loud whistling noise.




Meteorites USA wrote:
> P.S.
>
> His comment "..."The shape of it, it was just too perfect to be a 
> piece of junk.." is also a clue to the speed it was traveling. Could 
> he see the shape clearly enough if it were moving at super sonic 
> speed? In addition he reported he did NOT hear a sonic boom.
>
> Or I could be spending too much time on this and have nothing better 
> to do right now.
>
> Taking a day off is good... ;)
>
> Eric
>
>
>
>
>
> Meteorites USA wrote:
>> There are a few things left out of the report.
>>
>> Duration of the event, distance from his location, angle of decent, 
>> speed and azimuth. If the guy witnessed the entire event from 
>> beginning to end and the fireball was very far away at first 
>> sighting, that explains why he may not have heard the boom. It could 
>> be that it reached the retardation point long before coming close to 
>> him. The whistling noise reported is also intriguing.
>>
>> The report does NOT state that the ball of fire hit the water. Only 
>> that he witnessed a ball of fire.
>>
>> EXCERPT:
>>
>> "The shape of it, it was just too perfect to be a piece of junk. It 
>> looked just like a miniature comet, pretty much," he said. "It was 
>> really, really white with blue flames. It was pretty wild."
>>
>> Butler said he didn't hear the boom, only a whistling roar as the 
>> object flew past. The wind-blown water was really choppy, he added, 
>> but he could see the splash when it landed.."
>>
>>
>> He did give a clue as to the direction of travel although it is 
>> extremely vague as he doesn't say which direction he was looking but 
>> rather the direction he was traveling (SOUTH). He stated the object 
>> was "..coming right at my car.."
>>
>> He could have been looking East or West or in his rear-view mirror 
>> for that matter.
>>
>> The point is it's a eye-witness report, and it's interesting enough 
>> to investigate further.
>>
>> Even if it does turn out to be nothing.
>>
>> Eric
>>
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-- 
Regards,
Eric Wichman
Meteorites USA
http://www.meteoritesusa.com
904-236-5394