[meteorite-list] August 24th fireball over Canada

[GeoZay at aol.com]

>>I read those comments, too (about it  being 20 or 300 yards away).  
Here's 
what I'm thinking - there's a  pretty common misunderstanding between 
distance and angular distance.   We've all heard meteorite stories where 
someone claims "it was right in  front of me", only to find out later that 
the object was hundreds of miles  away.<<

Indeed this is a pretty common mistake.

>>The  person who said it was 20 yards away also described it as a 
"fireball" 
with  "ripples from the heat"... <<

I'm wondering if this person was  referring to the front of the meteoroid 
or the distorting train for the  ripples?


>>Whether or not anything reached the ground from this  one, it made me 
realize 
how useful Twitter is for gathering eyewitness  accounts. <<

Indeed it could be very useful...a hunter can ask for  phone 
numbers/addresses, Lat and Long./sonic questions right away. Sure would  make some leg 
work a lot easier. 

GeoZay