[meteorite-list] An Orionid?! Really?

[Matson, Robert D.]

Hi Jim/List,

Preaching to the choir on *this* list, but the meteor last night
*obviously* had nothing to do with the Orionids. Wrong time, wrong
direction, wrong speed, wrong size. As we all know, the Orionids
are associated with Comet Halley; the Bay Area fireball was from
a meteoroid.  --Rob

-----Original Message-----
From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of
Jimski47 at aol.com
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2012 2:08 PM
To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Subject: [meteorite-list] It's from the ashtray belt!

The Oakland Tribune reports the exploding streaks were especially
visible Wednesday night over the San Francisco Bay area and other parts
of Northern California, with reports of bright fireballs and loud booms
from Santa Cruz  County to Mendocino County.
 
"Happened to look over, saw like a crescent shaped object, reddish
orange in color," Edward Pierce told KGO-TV. "As it went away it started
getting larger. Kind of expanding."
 
Jonathan Braidman, an astronomer at Oakland's Chabot Space and Science
Center, told the station what Pierce and others saw were small,
car-sized pieces  of rock and metal from the ashtray belt.
 
It crashed through the earth's atmosphere, "ionizing and setting the air
on  fire in its wake," he said.
 
National Weather Service forecaster Steve Anderson tells the Tribune
that warm temperatures and cloud-free skies are making the bright lights
more visible, a phenomenon that should only increase as the weekend
approaches and the shower continues.
 
The fireballs are part of the large, fast Orionid meteor shower,
so-named because it has the Orion constellation as a backdrop.
 
_http://weather.aol.com/2012/10/18/stunning-meteor-showers-blaze-across-
cali
fornia-sky/#page=1%3Ficid_
(http://weather.aol.com/2012/10/18/stunning-meteor-showers-blaze-across-
california-sky/#page=1?icid)