Space Daily
Fri, 01 May 2009 14:27 UTC
Sedona - Authorities in Arizona said there has been no sign that a
large meteor reported in the skies near Sedona made impact with the
ground.
A spokesman for the Pinewood Fire Department in Munds Hill, near Sedona, said a crew drove up and down Interstate 17 but could find no evidence of the fireball that witnesses said lit up the sky Saturday night, the Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff, Ariz., reported Monday.
Karen Malis-Clark, public information officer for the Coconino National Forest, told the Arizona Republic that officials believe the meteor was destroyed before it landed.
"For some people in Arizona it might've looked like it landed but it didn't," she said.
The
discovery of a 2- to 3-kilometre-wide asteroid in an orbit that goes
backwards has set astronomers scratching their heads. It comes closer
to Earth than any other object in a 'retrograde' orbit, and astronomers
think they should have spotted it before.
The object, called 2009 HC82, was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona on the morning of 29 April.
From observations of its position by five different groups, Sonia Keys of the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center calculated it orbits the sun every 3.39 years on a path that ventures within 3.5 million km of the Earth's orbit. Combined with its size, that makes 2009 HC82 a potentially hazardous asteroid.
What's really unusual is that the calculated orbit is inclined 155° to the plane of the Earth's orbit. That means that as it orbits the Sun, it actually travels backwards compared to the planets. It is only the 20th asteroid known in a retrograde orbit, a very rare group. None of the others comes as close to the Earth.
More observations needed
Comets, which originate on the outer fringes of the solar system, are much more likely to have retrograde orbits than asteroids. In part, this is because passing stars or planets can kick them out of their original orbits and onto unusual paths, bringing them into the inner solar system, where we tend to see them.
Some retrograde asteroids may in fact be burnt-out comets, says Brian Marsden of the Minor Planet Center. The size and shape of the new asteroid's orbit "is very like Encke's comet except for inclination," he told New Scientist, although it shows no sign of a cometary tail.
The calculated orbit is the best fit to the available observations, but small observational errors could make a big difference in that calculation. "I'd feel happier about it if we get some more observations," says Marsden.
The asteroid is now far beyond Mars, but its orbit periodically brings it fairly close to Earth. "It should have been easily observable in 2000," says Marsden. "Why wasn't it seen then?" He hopes new observations will answer that question.
A spokesman for the Pinewood Fire Department in Munds Hill, near Sedona, said a crew drove up and down Interstate 17 but could find no evidence of the fireball that witnesses said lit up the sky Saturday night, the Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff, Ariz., reported Monday.
Karen Malis-Clark, public information officer for the Coconino National Forest, told the Arizona Republic that officials believe the meteor was destroyed before it landed.
"For some people in Arizona it might've looked like it landed but it didn't," she said.
Jeff Hecht
New Scientist
Sun, 03 May 2009 18:11 UTC
© NASA/JPL
The object, called 2009 HC82, was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona on the morning of 29 April.
From observations of its position by five different groups, Sonia Keys of the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center calculated it orbits the sun every 3.39 years on a path that ventures within 3.5 million km of the Earth's orbit. Combined with its size, that makes 2009 HC82 a potentially hazardous asteroid.
What's really unusual is that the calculated orbit is inclined 155° to the plane of the Earth's orbit. That means that as it orbits the Sun, it actually travels backwards compared to the planets. It is only the 20th asteroid known in a retrograde orbit, a very rare group. None of the others comes as close to the Earth.
More observations needed
Comets, which originate on the outer fringes of the solar system, are much more likely to have retrograde orbits than asteroids. In part, this is because passing stars or planets can kick them out of their original orbits and onto unusual paths, bringing them into the inner solar system, where we tend to see them.
Some retrograde asteroids may in fact be burnt-out comets, says Brian Marsden of the Minor Planet Center. The size and shape of the new asteroid's orbit "is very like Encke's comet except for inclination," he told New Scientist, although it shows no sign of a cometary tail.
The calculated orbit is the best fit to the available observations, but small observational errors could make a big difference in that calculation. "I'd feel happier about it if we get some more observations," says Marsden.
The asteroid is now far beyond Mars, but its orbit periodically brings it fairly close to Earth. "It should have been easily observable in 2000," says Marsden. "Why wasn't it seen then?" He hopes new observations will answer that question.
Michael Cohen
All News Web
Mon, 04 May 2009 18:51 UTC
In April, around two weeks ago, a number of farmers working in fields
noticed what they thought was a helicopter crashing to earth in the
Gyeongsang Province of South Korea. The witnesses noticed flames and
smoke coming from the ground after the impact.
A team of rescue helicopters along with the police and emergency services soon began a thorough search of the area which lasted for over three hours but failed to locate any crashed vehicle. Around 130 personnel were involved in the search.
As no wreckage was located the point of impact local authorities speculated that the object might have been a small meteorite or a UFO.
South Korean UFO researchers are noting the anomaly whereby the witnesses believed they saw a technological vehicle descending to earth and yet nothing was found in the locale. Many are speculating that this might have been an alien craft buzzing the area whose energy field interacted with the ground nearby with explosive results.
We thank Matthew Seng for this story and his comments.
Source: Morning News (South Korea)
This
isn't just "buzz" to get you excited about a new movie coming; we
really are being buzzed by asteroids and other NEOs (Near Earth
Objects), and one day these conjunctions could become collisions! There
are lots of NEOs out there orbiting the sun.
Some, like comets, are less worrisome since they are composed primarily of ice and small, rocky particles that dissipate upon entering Earth's atmosphere. Others, however, like asteroids are thought of as minor planets that are large enough to damage Earth and its environment if an encounter should take place.
Comment: It is quite likely that comets are as threatening to Earth as asteroids. Read Tunguska, Psychopathy and the Sixth Extinction, The Hazard to Civilization from Fireballs and Comets or Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets: Damages, Disasters, Injuries, Deaths, and Very Close Calls for more in-depth reading.
Astronomers estimate that there are approximately 1100 near Earth asteroids bigger than one kilometer in diameter and more than one million that are larger than 40 meters in diameter. Those smaller than 40 meters tend to burn up in the atmosphere, but the impact of a 40-meter diameter asteroid is equivalent to a three-megaton bomb! One megaton is the equivalent explosive power of one million tons of TNT.
For comparison, the Little Boy atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, exploded with an energy of about 15 kilotons of TNT.
Larger NEOs of about 2 kilometers in size could impart energies in the category of about a million megatons! Such an impact could result in an "impact winter" with global loss of crops and subsequent starvation and disease.
Large impacts could cause mass extinctions of species. And....scientists know that most of the larger asteroids are as yet undetected! How do we detect, and better yet, deflect such large asteroids?
Eventually, one of these will be spotted. And when that happens, who do we call? Right now there is no one to call, because the world has no defense against pending large asteroid encounters! If this is troubling, here is the bad news.
On March 2 of this year, asteroid 2009 DD45 zipped just 41,000 miles above Earth at a speed of 12 miles per second at its closest point to Earth. Amateur astronomers aided professionals at the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center by providing measurements used in refining calculations of the asteroid's orbit.
But, astronomers did not even detect the asteroid until just a couple of days before it zoomed by Earth; far too late to take any preventative action. This was not an isolated incident as many NEOs come this close to Earth and zip by undetected!
Scientists have demonstrated that several large NEO impacts in the past have altered both life and the environment. While the probability of a life-ending impact is low, scientists know that potentially critical collisions are inevitable. Why are we not doing something to mitigate or hopefully prevent such a catastrophic event?
The answer to this question is complicated. As humans, we focus on potential dangers only when they are imminent, or after the fact.
We react when the danger becomes real and the situation becomes urgent. However, deflecting large asteroids is not easy, simple or inexpensive. We do not yet know how to do it, but we do know it will require early detection and long-term investments on a global scale.
We want to start thinking about ways to protect Earth from NEOs and we need your ideas. Please send them to Launchspace and we will publish the better ideas in future articles.
A team of rescue helicopters along with the police and emergency services soon began a thorough search of the area which lasted for over three hours but failed to locate any crashed vehicle. Around 130 personnel were involved in the search.
As no wreckage was located the point of impact local authorities speculated that the object might have been a small meteorite or a UFO.
South Korean UFO researchers are noting the anomaly whereby the witnesses believed they saw a technological vehicle descending to earth and yet nothing was found in the locale. Many are speculating that this might have been an alien craft buzzing the area whose energy field interacted with the ground nearby with explosive results.
We thank Matthew Seng for this story and his comments.
Source: Morning News (South Korea)
Space Daily
Mon, 04 May 2009 01:51 UTC
© Unknown
Scientists have demonstrated that several large NEO impacts in the past have altered both life and the environment.
Scientists have demonstrated that several large NEO impacts in the past have altered both life and the environment.
Some, like comets, are less worrisome since they are composed primarily of ice and small, rocky particles that dissipate upon entering Earth's atmosphere. Others, however, like asteroids are thought of as minor planets that are large enough to damage Earth and its environment if an encounter should take place.
Comment: It is quite likely that comets are as threatening to Earth as asteroids. Read Tunguska, Psychopathy and the Sixth Extinction, The Hazard to Civilization from Fireballs and Comets or Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets: Damages, Disasters, Injuries, Deaths, and Very Close Calls for more in-depth reading.
Astronomers estimate that there are approximately 1100 near Earth asteroids bigger than one kilometer in diameter and more than one million that are larger than 40 meters in diameter. Those smaller than 40 meters tend to burn up in the atmosphere, but the impact of a 40-meter diameter asteroid is equivalent to a three-megaton bomb! One megaton is the equivalent explosive power of one million tons of TNT.
For comparison, the Little Boy atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, exploded with an energy of about 15 kilotons of TNT.
Larger NEOs of about 2 kilometers in size could impart energies in the category of about a million megatons! Such an impact could result in an "impact winter" with global loss of crops and subsequent starvation and disease.
Large impacts could cause mass extinctions of species. And....scientists know that most of the larger asteroids are as yet undetected! How do we detect, and better yet, deflect such large asteroids?
Eventually, one of these will be spotted. And when that happens, who do we call? Right now there is no one to call, because the world has no defense against pending large asteroid encounters! If this is troubling, here is the bad news.
On March 2 of this year, asteroid 2009 DD45 zipped just 41,000 miles above Earth at a speed of 12 miles per second at its closest point to Earth. Amateur astronomers aided professionals at the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center by providing measurements used in refining calculations of the asteroid's orbit.
But, astronomers did not even detect the asteroid until just a couple of days before it zoomed by Earth; far too late to take any preventative action. This was not an isolated incident as many NEOs come this close to Earth and zip by undetected!
Scientists have demonstrated that several large NEO impacts in the past have altered both life and the environment. While the probability of a life-ending impact is low, scientists know that potentially critical collisions are inevitable. Why are we not doing something to mitigate or hopefully prevent such a catastrophic event?
The answer to this question is complicated. As humans, we focus on potential dangers only when they are imminent, or after the fact.
We react when the danger becomes real and the situation becomes urgent. However, deflecting large asteroids is not easy, simple or inexpensive. We do not yet know how to do it, but we do know it will require early detection and long-term investments on a global scale.
We want to start thinking about ways to protect Earth from NEOs and we need your ideas. Please send them to Launchspace and we will publish the better ideas in future articles.
Irene Klotz
Discovery News
Tue, 05 May 2009 12:52 UTC
An innovative plan to retrieve comet particles from earth's
stratosphere has hit pay dirt, with the discovery that some predate the
formation of the solar system.
"It was the largest number ever found," says Dr Henner Busemann of the University of Manchester's School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences.
The samples were collected by a high-altitude NASA research jet flying in April 2003 as the Earth travelled through the dusty wake of Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup.
"This was the equivalent of sampling a meteor shower. Nobody had previously collected samples of a comet in that way," says Professor Donald Brownlee of the University of Washington, who heads a science team analysing particles returned by the Stardust spacecraft, which flew by Comet Wild-2 in January 2004.
Scientists believe our solar system was formed out of the exploded remains of an older star. Isotopic analysis of interplanetary dust particles, culled from meteorites and other sources, show some grains are older than the 4.5-billion-year-old solar system.
Scientists don't know how long interstellar dust grains can survive in space. They are made in stars and destroyed by shock waves, says Brownlee.
Richest haul
Thousands of grains have been analysed, but so far the richest haul of pre-solar particles appears to be from the sample collected on plastic plates covered in sticky silicon oil flown outside the NASA U2 aircraft.
The Stardust team has been looking for similar particles among its samples, but so far has come up empty-handed.
"All this is quite perplexing, actually," says Brownlee.
It's possible that the comets were made at different times and formed from a different variety of materials, says Brownlee, or that pre-solar grains from Wild-2 were destroyed as they were captured by the probe.
"It's a mystery," he says, "but that's what makes science run."
Busemann presented his findings the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science conference at the University of Hertfordshire.
"It was the largest number ever found," says Dr Henner Busemann of the University of Manchester's School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences.
The samples were collected by a high-altitude NASA research jet flying in April 2003 as the Earth travelled through the dusty wake of Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup.
"This was the equivalent of sampling a meteor shower. Nobody had previously collected samples of a comet in that way," says Professor Donald Brownlee of the University of Washington, who heads a science team analysing particles returned by the Stardust spacecraft, which flew by Comet Wild-2 in January 2004.
Scientists believe our solar system was formed out of the exploded remains of an older star. Isotopic analysis of interplanetary dust particles, culled from meteorites and other sources, show some grains are older than the 4.5-billion-year-old solar system.
Scientists don't know how long interstellar dust grains can survive in space. They are made in stars and destroyed by shock waves, says Brownlee.
Richest haul
Thousands of grains have been analysed, but so far the richest haul of pre-solar particles appears to be from the sample collected on plastic plates covered in sticky silicon oil flown outside the NASA U2 aircraft.
The Stardust team has been looking for similar particles among its samples, but so far has come up empty-handed.
"All this is quite perplexing, actually," says Brownlee.
It's possible that the comets were made at different times and formed from a different variety of materials, says Brownlee, or that pre-solar grains from Wild-2 were destroyed as they were captured by the probe.
"It's a mystery," he says, "but that's what makes science run."
Busemann presented his findings the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science conference at the University of Hertfordshire.
Colleen Mensching
North County Times
Wed, 06 May 2009 22:22 UTC
Officials say there is no known cause
Something went boom in the night Tuesday, but no one seems to know what it was.
The boom seemed especially powerful along the coast, where residents reported windows, doors and houses shaking at about 10 minutes before 8 p.m.
There was speculation that the sound and accompanying sensation came from a supersonic jet, officials with the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S.Geological Survey said Wednesday.
Navy officials said they knew of no aircraft activity Tuesday night that might have caused the boom. Marine officials said they would research whether their aircraft might have been responsible.
"The only kind of aircraft that can fly at supersonic speeds are military aircraft," said FAA spokesman Ian Gregor. "Typically, when military aircraft are going that fast, they're flying in military airspace off the coast, not in civilian airspace ---- so we're not talking to them."
On Wednesday morning, Carlsbad police and fire officials said they had no information about the boom.
A deputy with the Sheriff's Department's rail enforcement team said his unit had not been notified of any railway incidents that might have caused the sound.
The FAA didn't record any events that would be related to the boom, Gregor said.
But he noted similar booms were reported earlier this year.
There is speculation that booms felt March 3 in Orange County and March 4 along the Central California coast were sonic booms from military jets, Gregor said.
Comment: Yes, speculation, only. You can read about the two sonic booms felt, and heard, 12 hours apart in California here.
Because Tuesday's boom was reminiscent of the sound and feel of an earthquake, people have been calling the U.S. Geological Survey, which monitors seismic activity. There was nothing to suggest an earthquake occurred.
Robert Dollar, a USGS seismologist, said he's not surprised to hear that many of the people who reported the San Diego County boom lived in coastal communities.
"Oftentimes, what happens is there's an aircraft that's flying out over the Pacific some place, and the boom bounces off of the water or the upper atmosphere and comes down on the coast," Dollar said. "Assuming it is a boom."
Something went boom in the night Tuesday, but no one seems to know what it was.
The boom seemed especially powerful along the coast, where residents reported windows, doors and houses shaking at about 10 minutes before 8 p.m.
There was speculation that the sound and accompanying sensation came from a supersonic jet, officials with the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S.Geological Survey said Wednesday.
Navy officials said they knew of no aircraft activity Tuesday night that might have caused the boom. Marine officials said they would research whether their aircraft might have been responsible.
"The only kind of aircraft that can fly at supersonic speeds are military aircraft," said FAA spokesman Ian Gregor. "Typically, when military aircraft are going that fast, they're flying in military airspace off the coast, not in civilian airspace ---- so we're not talking to them."
On Wednesday morning, Carlsbad police and fire officials said they had no information about the boom.
A deputy with the Sheriff's Department's rail enforcement team said his unit had not been notified of any railway incidents that might have caused the sound.
The FAA didn't record any events that would be related to the boom, Gregor said.
But he noted similar booms were reported earlier this year.
There is speculation that booms felt March 3 in Orange County and March 4 along the Central California coast were sonic booms from military jets, Gregor said.
Comment: Yes, speculation, only. You can read about the two sonic booms felt, and heard, 12 hours apart in California here.
Because Tuesday's boom was reminiscent of the sound and feel of an earthquake, people have been calling the U.S. Geological Survey, which monitors seismic activity. There was nothing to suggest an earthquake occurred.
Robert Dollar, a USGS seismologist, said he's not surprised to hear that many of the people who reported the San Diego County boom lived in coastal communities.
"Oftentimes, what happens is there's an aircraft that's flying out over the Pacific some place, and the boom bounces off of the water or the upper atmosphere and comes down on the coast," Dollar said. "Assuming it is a boom."
Bill Miller
Star-Telegram
Thu, 07 May 2009 22:29 UTC
A large noise, possibly a sonic boom, was heard across Wise and Tarrant
counties early Thursday afternoon, but no explosions were reported,
according to officials.
Residents in both counties called their sheriff's offices between 1 and 2 p.m. to report the noise.
Officials checked for explosions, particularly around natural gas production sites, but they didn't find anything.
"Nothing is blowing up, nothing is on fire and there's no wreckage," said Terry Grisham, spokesman for the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office.
A Wise County sheriff's dispatcher said her office received numerous reports of a loud bang, but nothing was found on the ground.
Grisham said Tarrant County officials called Naval Air Station Fort Worth, and were told that military officials were checking into it.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Bradley Dawson, base spokesman, said citizens and reporters have called to ask about the noise.
"At this moment we actually have people on base investigating," Dawson said. "We're trying to see where our planes were at and what's going on.
"When you have, like, six people call, including news stations, we'll get on it."
No other information was available at 3 p.m.
On
the morning of June 30, 1908, the sky exploded over a remote region of
central Siberia. A fireball as powerful as hundreds of Hiroshima atomic
blasts scorched through the upper atmosphere "as if there was a second
sun," according to one eyewitness. Scientists today think a small
fragment of a comet or asteroid caused the "Tunguska event," so named
for the Tunguska river nearby. No one knows for certain, however,
because no fragment of the meteoroid has ever been found. The explosion
was so vast - flattening and incinerating over an 800 square-mile swath
of trees - that generations of amateur sleuths have put forward
scenarios as strange as stray black holes or UFO attacks to explain the
tremendous explosion.
Now, a controversial scientific study suggests that a chunk of a comet caused the 5 to 10 megaton fireball - what amounts to the largest non-nuclear explosion in modern history. Crucially, according to the new hypothesis, most of the comet bounced off the atmosphere and back into orbit around the sun. The scientists have even identified a candidate Tunguska object - now more than 100 million miles away - that was somewhere near Earth on June 30, 1908 and will be passing close to Earth again in 2045. But just how could a comet - basically a ball of water ice and cosmic dust - create such a massive explosion and leave no trace? The answer, the scientists believe, can be found in basic chemistry rather than complicated physics or evidence yet to be found.
One of the most peculiar leftovers from the Tunguska event is the pattern of scorched earth it left behind. No mere circular blast, Tunguska's trail of charred trees fan out like a butterfly, with outer "wings" that spread both in a north-northeast direction and a south-southeast direction. When presented with this unusual pattern, top scientists, including Giuseppe Longo of the University of Bologna in Italy and Yuri Medvedev of the Russian Institute of Applied Astronomy, have circled around two main theories - that either two separate objects exploded in the skies over the region or one object skipped over the atmosphere, circled the earth and then re-entered over the Tunguska region on its second pass. Edward Drobyshevski, a research physicist at the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, thinks instead that the comet fragment packed its own explosives - in the form of hydrogen, the gas that turned the Hindenburg airship into a blazing inferno in seconds.
To come to his hydrogen theory, Drobyshevski focused on basic chemistry, namely electrolysis - the chemical splitting of water into its hydrogen and oxygen components using electricity. The hydrogen that caused the 1908 explosion, Drobyshevski says, most likely comes from the comet's earlier incarnation - as a tiny part of an ice sheet on a moon of Jupiter or Saturn. Over time, the strong magnetic fields from the host planet split some of the water molecules in the ice sheet into little hydrogen and oxygen bubbles that remained trapped within it. Once enough hydrogen had accumulated in the ice sheet, a direct asteroid hit would have caused the sheet to explode, sending shards of hydrogen-bubble-filled ice into space. (As far back as 1981, Drobyshevski published a paper theorizing that hydrogen-rich ice on Saturn's moon Titan exploded between 3000 and 10,000 years ago, enriching the structure of Saturn's rings and perhaps also sending some volatile icy shards into the solar system.)
These ice shards then wander the solar system, Drobyshevski says, and occasionally cross paths with a planet like Earth, as one may have done in 1908. Add a spark to one of these shards from, say, the friction of entering an atmosphere and you have one giant, naturally developed, explosive ice-bomb.
When the Tunguska meteoroid skimmed the Earth's atmosphere, according to Drobyshevski's calculations, 10 percent of its ice exploded. This then kicked the parent meteoroid back into space. Such a jagged trajectory would explain the unusual butterfly pattern of felled trees, he says. Hunting through databases of more than 6000 near-Earth objects, Drobyshevski and collaborators found one, called 2005NB56, that passed outside of the moon's orbit around June 27, 1908. The timing and the direction that 2005NB56 would have been coming from is a close fit with eyewitness accounts of the Tunguska event, according to Drobyshevsky. (The object's closest calculated distance from the Earth, 6.2 million miles, carry large error margins, he says.)
Comet 2005NB56 is also going to be passing within 3.8 million miles of the Earth in 2045, about 16 times the distance from the Earth to the moon. This time around, it may not pose an imminent threat to the planet, Drobyshevsky says, but studying the object as it approaches could yield important insights about near-Earth objects - and what unforeseen dangers may be stored in their ice.
A colleague from the Russian Academy of Science, Yuri Medvedev of the Institute of Applied Astronomy in St. Petersburg, is impressed but not convinced by Drobyshevski's argument that 2005NB56 caused the Tunguska explosion. Medvedev says that Drobyshevski's theory of comets' explosive origins - and a possible explosive encounter with Earth in 1908 - are far from proven, but deserve more attention from astronomers.
"Drobyshevski's theory explains some unusual observations," Medvedev told PM via email. For instance, he says, when NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft dropped a probe onto the surface of the comet Tempel 1 in 2005, a small part of the comet exploded with unexpected fury - consistent with the hypothesis that some comets carry their own hydrogen pyrotechnics.
The research conducted by Drobyshevskia and his team has been submitted for publication to the journal Icarus.
Comment: Oh yes, nothing to worry about with falling meteorites. They only hurt if they fall on you.
We suggest you read any, or even better, all of the articles listed in the sidebar to the left under "Comets and Catastrophes". This is not to frighten anyone, but to get a better understanding of just what the PTB don't want you to know.
Remember, knowledge protects.
Residents in both counties called their sheriff's offices between 1 and 2 p.m. to report the noise.
Officials checked for explosions, particularly around natural gas production sites, but they didn't find anything.
"Nothing is blowing up, nothing is on fire and there's no wreckage," said Terry Grisham, spokesman for the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office.
A Wise County sheriff's dispatcher said her office received numerous reports of a loud bang, but nothing was found on the ground.
Grisham said Tarrant County officials called Naval Air Station Fort Worth, and were told that military officials were checking into it.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Bradley Dawson, base spokesman, said citizens and reporters have called to ask about the noise.
"At this moment we actually have people on base investigating," Dawson said. "We're trying to see where our planes were at and what's going on.
"When you have, like, six people call, including news stations, we'll get on it."
No other information was available at 3 p.m.
Mark Anderson
Popular Mechanics
Thu, 07 May 2009 10:00 UTC
© Pete Turner/Getty Images
Now, a controversial scientific study suggests that a chunk of a comet caused the 5 to 10 megaton fireball - what amounts to the largest non-nuclear explosion in modern history. Crucially, according to the new hypothesis, most of the comet bounced off the atmosphere and back into orbit around the sun. The scientists have even identified a candidate Tunguska object - now more than 100 million miles away - that was somewhere near Earth on June 30, 1908 and will be passing close to Earth again in 2045. But just how could a comet - basically a ball of water ice and cosmic dust - create such a massive explosion and leave no trace? The answer, the scientists believe, can be found in basic chemistry rather than complicated physics or evidence yet to be found.
One of the most peculiar leftovers from the Tunguska event is the pattern of scorched earth it left behind. No mere circular blast, Tunguska's trail of charred trees fan out like a butterfly, with outer "wings" that spread both in a north-northeast direction and a south-southeast direction. When presented with this unusual pattern, top scientists, including Giuseppe Longo of the University of Bologna in Italy and Yuri Medvedev of the Russian Institute of Applied Astronomy, have circled around two main theories - that either two separate objects exploded in the skies over the region or one object skipped over the atmosphere, circled the earth and then re-entered over the Tunguska region on its second pass. Edward Drobyshevski, a research physicist at the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, thinks instead that the comet fragment packed its own explosives - in the form of hydrogen, the gas that turned the Hindenburg airship into a blazing inferno in seconds.
To come to his hydrogen theory, Drobyshevski focused on basic chemistry, namely electrolysis - the chemical splitting of water into its hydrogen and oxygen components using electricity. The hydrogen that caused the 1908 explosion, Drobyshevski says, most likely comes from the comet's earlier incarnation - as a tiny part of an ice sheet on a moon of Jupiter or Saturn. Over time, the strong magnetic fields from the host planet split some of the water molecules in the ice sheet into little hydrogen and oxygen bubbles that remained trapped within it. Once enough hydrogen had accumulated in the ice sheet, a direct asteroid hit would have caused the sheet to explode, sending shards of hydrogen-bubble-filled ice into space. (As far back as 1981, Drobyshevski published a paper theorizing that hydrogen-rich ice on Saturn's moon Titan exploded between 3000 and 10,000 years ago, enriching the structure of Saturn's rings and perhaps also sending some volatile icy shards into the solar system.)
These ice shards then wander the solar system, Drobyshevski says, and occasionally cross paths with a planet like Earth, as one may have done in 1908. Add a spark to one of these shards from, say, the friction of entering an atmosphere and you have one giant, naturally developed, explosive ice-bomb.
When the Tunguska meteoroid skimmed the Earth's atmosphere, according to Drobyshevski's calculations, 10 percent of its ice exploded. This then kicked the parent meteoroid back into space. Such a jagged trajectory would explain the unusual butterfly pattern of felled trees, he says. Hunting through databases of more than 6000 near-Earth objects, Drobyshevski and collaborators found one, called 2005NB56, that passed outside of the moon's orbit around June 27, 1908. The timing and the direction that 2005NB56 would have been coming from is a close fit with eyewitness accounts of the Tunguska event, according to Drobyshevsky. (The object's closest calculated distance from the Earth, 6.2 million miles, carry large error margins, he says.)
Comet 2005NB56 is also going to be passing within 3.8 million miles of the Earth in 2045, about 16 times the distance from the Earth to the moon. This time around, it may not pose an imminent threat to the planet, Drobyshevsky says, but studying the object as it approaches could yield important insights about near-Earth objects - and what unforeseen dangers may be stored in their ice.
A colleague from the Russian Academy of Science, Yuri Medvedev of the Institute of Applied Astronomy in St. Petersburg, is impressed but not convinced by Drobyshevski's argument that 2005NB56 caused the Tunguska explosion. Medvedev says that Drobyshevski's theory of comets' explosive origins - and a possible explosive encounter with Earth in 1908 - are far from proven, but deserve more attention from astronomers.
"Drobyshevski's theory explains some unusual observations," Medvedev told PM via email. For instance, he says, when NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft dropped a probe onto the surface of the comet Tempel 1 in 2005, a small part of the comet exploded with unexpected fury - consistent with the hypothesis that some comets carry their own hydrogen pyrotechnics.
The research conducted by Drobyshevskia and his team has been submitted for publication to the journal Icarus.
Bob Gibbins
Tahlequah Daily Press
Fri, 08 May 2009 20:29 UTC
Local law enforcement officials haven't closed the books on identifying
the cause of a fireball in the skies of Cherokee County May 5, but
they're no longer actively searching for its origin.
Tahlequah-Cherokee County Emergency Management Director Gary Dotson said Thursday that search efforts have been called off. Emergency services personnel searched Tuesday and Wednesday, without success.
Dotson had said a Woodall firefighter reported seeing the fireball as it plummeted to the ground.
Eric Wichman, a private researcher for Meteorites USA, a California organization, said the idea that the fireball may have been a plane or helicopter hasn't been completely ruled out. He said, however, that eyewitnesses he spoke to have said it didn't sound like an aircraft.
"It's possible it could have been a meteor fireball," Wichman said. "The witnesses said it was high in the sky and below the cloud cover. They said it was moving southwest to northeast."
Wichman talked to Dotson and representatives with other law enforcement agencies, as well as some private citizens. He said his organization is looking for other witnesses who may have seen the fireball.
"If it was a plane, we'd like to know so we can find it," he said. "We need to know if anyone heard a sonic boom right at the time it they saw it. Another question is whether debris was seen falling to the ground."
He said sounds that a witness heard when the fireball was spotted will help determine whether it was a meteor.
One witness reported seeing smoke around the fireball, but another saw no smoke.
"Usually, a meteor fireball will break apart when it hits the ground," Wichman explained. "Nine out of 10 of them are not hot when they hit the ground."
They are usually heavier than earth rock and are typically magnetic, due to a high iron content.
Wichman said the meteor fireball is harmless if someone approaches it lying on the ground.
"About the only way they can hurt is if they fall on you," he said.
Tahlequah-Cherokee County Emergency Management Director Gary Dotson said Thursday that search efforts have been called off. Emergency services personnel searched Tuesday and Wednesday, without success.
Dotson had said a Woodall firefighter reported seeing the fireball as it plummeted to the ground.
Eric Wichman, a private researcher for Meteorites USA, a California organization, said the idea that the fireball may have been a plane or helicopter hasn't been completely ruled out. He said, however, that eyewitnesses he spoke to have said it didn't sound like an aircraft.
"It's possible it could have been a meteor fireball," Wichman said. "The witnesses said it was high in the sky and below the cloud cover. They said it was moving southwest to northeast."
Wichman talked to Dotson and representatives with other law enforcement agencies, as well as some private citizens. He said his organization is looking for other witnesses who may have seen the fireball.
"If it was a plane, we'd like to know so we can find it," he said. "We need to know if anyone heard a sonic boom right at the time it they saw it. Another question is whether debris was seen falling to the ground."
He said sounds that a witness heard when the fireball was spotted will help determine whether it was a meteor.
One witness reported seeing smoke around the fireball, but another saw no smoke.
"Usually, a meteor fireball will break apart when it hits the ground," Wichman explained. "Nine out of 10 of them are not hot when they hit the ground."
They are usually heavier than earth rock and are typically magnetic, due to a high iron content.
Wichman said the meteor fireball is harmless if someone approaches it lying on the ground.
"About the only way they can hurt is if they fall on you," he said.
Comment: Oh yes, nothing to worry about with falling meteorites. They only hurt if they fall on you.
We suggest you read any, or even better, all of the articles listed in the sidebar to the left under "Comets and Catastrophes". This is not to frighten anyone, but to get a better understanding of just what the PTB don't want you to know.
Remember, knowledge protects.
East Anglian Daily Times
Mon, 11 May 2009 17:14 UTC
Another strange sight has been spotted in the Suffolk skies.
Bob Cousins, from Kesgrave, contacted the paper to report his sighting of what he believes were two meteors at 10.40pm Saturday night - and he wants to know if anyone else saw the mystery objects.
He said: "I saw a bright orange/yellow light, brighter than a plane light approaching from the west, heading due east. It looked odd so I got my camcorder but the battery was flat.
"By then it was nearly overhead, slightly south of us, moving maybe twice as fast as a normal jet. Then I was shocked to see another even bigger light following behind it.
"I watched as they traveled without any sound in a dead straight line towards the coast. They got fainter until the lights stopped glowing, before they reached the horizon.
"Other people must have seen it, pity I could not get pictures."
Bob Cousins, from Kesgrave, contacted the paper to report his sighting of what he believes were two meteors at 10.40pm Saturday night - and he wants to know if anyone else saw the mystery objects.
He said: "I saw a bright orange/yellow light, brighter than a plane light approaching from the west, heading due east. It looked odd so I got my camcorder but the battery was flat.
"By then it was nearly overhead, slightly south of us, moving maybe twice as fast as a normal jet. Then I was shocked to see another even bigger light following behind it.
"I watched as they traveled without any sound in a dead straight line towards the coast. They got fainter until the lights stopped glowing, before they reached the horizon.
"Other people must have seen it, pity I could not get pictures."
UK UFO Sightings
Thu, 07 May 2009 17:48 UTC
Posted: May 7, 2009
Date of Sighting: 12th April 2009
Time Approx: 22.50
Witness: Marion and John
Witness Statement: We just spotted a ufo. We live in Barrhead. It was about 22:50 pm and I thought it was a ball of fire in the sky and told my daughter to look out and see it too. Then I called my husband upstairs to see it too and my son. It was bobbing about the sky then it went away up high to the stars. So after a bit of shock, we went about our business, then my husband shouted look the massive bright light was above the hill in my street and it looked like a red shield was above it. Then it went across the sky and faded up as before, there was no noise and nothing like we had ever seen before, the sky was so clear and it just seemed to go back into the stars its movement was like no airplane or helicopter? So strange?
We have pictures but not clear my husband went out to the garden, it was bright red/orange in the sky and seemed big like a street light appears in brightness.
UK UFO Update:
Here is one of the photos sent in by Marion with a cropped enlargement:
Date of Sighting: 12th April 2009
Time Approx: 22.50
Witness: Marion and John
Witness Statement: We just spotted a ufo. We live in Barrhead. It was about 22:50 pm and I thought it was a ball of fire in the sky and told my daughter to look out and see it too. Then I called my husband upstairs to see it too and my son. It was bobbing about the sky then it went away up high to the stars. So after a bit of shock, we went about our business, then my husband shouted look the massive bright light was above the hill in my street and it looked like a red shield was above it. Then it went across the sky and faded up as before, there was no noise and nothing like we had ever seen before, the sky was so clear and it just seemed to go back into the stars its movement was like no airplane or helicopter? So strange?
We have pictures but not clear my husband went out to the garden, it was bright red/orange in the sky and seemed big like a street light appears in brightness.
UK UFO Update:
Here is one of the photos sent in by Marion with a cropped enlargement:
Northern Territory News
Tue, 12 May 2009 16:35 UTC
Two
men on Queensland's Gold and Sunshine coasts have reported seeing a
mysterious white light shooting through the night sky about the same
time a Territory woman claimed to have photographed UFOs near her
Palmerston home.
The Territory mother-of-three, who wished only to be known by her first name Kym, photographed two "discs of light" in the sky as she watched the dark rain clouds roll towards her Palmerston home last month.
Kym said the image was taken on her mobile phone and that she didn't notice the strange lights in the clouds until she downloaded the pictures on to her computer.
The Gold Coast Bulletin has revealed that Nerang resident Michael Baker was standing outside the Worongary shopping centre looking at the sunset on the same day when he saw the strange light traveling from the west about 5.50pm.
"We were just taking in the sunset, looking at the clouds and suddenly we saw a big white streak," he said.
"As it came down towards the ground, it turned blue and then green and it broke up with a bit of a sizzle and a spark."
About the same time, Ian Mayes was taking his 10-year-old daughter Chloe for a walk at Peregian Beach on the Sunshine Coast when he saw an unusual light.
"We just saw this bright white light, like a star, burning for a few seconds and then it fizzled out," he said.
But Springbrook Research Observatory astronomer Andre Clayden said the Queensland sightings were probably a meteor shower.
Kym said she had never had any previous UFO encounters.
"I've never really thought about them or had a view on them," she said.
"But my motto is never say never - anything's possible."
Observers
have reported a meteor over Edinburgh, after a "very fast" bright green
light was seen traveling across the sky towards East Lothian.
Witnesses said it happened just after 2230 BST on Monday and was as fast as a low-flying jet.
The fireball lasted about five seconds before burning out.
Rob Ritchie, of North Berwick, said he saw it while traveling along the A1 moving towards the Lammermuir Hills in a south easterly direction.
Another eyewitness, Chris Montroy, from Edinburgh, said that looking from his window, which faces Arthur's Seat, he could see an orange streak which turned into a bright green light.
Coloured tail
Joe Prentice, of Swinton Quarter Farm, south of Duns, told the BBC Scotland news website: "I saw the meteor on Monday night, it appeared to the south, traveling from east to west, dropping at an angle of 20 to 25 degrees, and I thought it must have been falling quite close by.
"Obviously I was wrong as I live in Swinton just south of Duns and 45 miles south of Edinburgh. It was quite spectacular, not unlike a firework with a nicely coloured tail."
Thom Fish, from Cramond, said: "I saw this in the sky to my south east as I approached the Calder junction of the city bypass from the A71 west.
"To be honest, I did think it was just a firework until I saw the news report. It was a very bright and luminous green."
The only annual meteor shower at this time of year are the Eta Aquarids, which are associated with Comet Halley, and are usually low in the sky viewed from the UK.
They reach maximum on the 5 May, but span the period between 24 April and 20 May.
England: Northumberland National Park -
The Territory mother-of-three, who wished only to be known by her first name Kym, photographed two "discs of light" in the sky as she watched the dark rain clouds roll towards her Palmerston home last month.
Kym said the image was taken on her mobile phone and that she didn't notice the strange lights in the clouds until she downloaded the pictures on to her computer.
The Gold Coast Bulletin has revealed that Nerang resident Michael Baker was standing outside the Worongary shopping centre looking at the sunset on the same day when he saw the strange light traveling from the west about 5.50pm.
"We were just taking in the sunset, looking at the clouds and suddenly we saw a big white streak," he said.
"As it came down towards the ground, it turned blue and then green and it broke up with a bit of a sizzle and a spark."
About the same time, Ian Mayes was taking his 10-year-old daughter Chloe for a walk at Peregian Beach on the Sunshine Coast when he saw an unusual light.
"We just saw this bright white light, like a star, burning for a few seconds and then it fizzled out," he said.
But Springbrook Research Observatory astronomer Andre Clayden said the Queensland sightings were probably a meteor shower.
Kym said she had never had any previous UFO encounters.
"I've never really thought about them or had a view on them," she said.
"But my motto is never say never - anything's possible."
BBC News
Tue, 12 May 2009 17:28 UTC
© Unknown
Meteors are easier to spot at night
Meteors are easier to spot at night
Witnesses said it happened just after 2230 BST on Monday and was as fast as a low-flying jet.
The fireball lasted about five seconds before burning out.
Rob Ritchie, of North Berwick, said he saw it while traveling along the A1 moving towards the Lammermuir Hills in a south easterly direction.
Another eyewitness, Chris Montroy, from Edinburgh, said that looking from his window, which faces Arthur's Seat, he could see an orange streak which turned into a bright green light.
Coloured tail
Joe Prentice, of Swinton Quarter Farm, south of Duns, told the BBC Scotland news website: "I saw the meteor on Monday night, it appeared to the south, traveling from east to west, dropping at an angle of 20 to 25 degrees, and I thought it must have been falling quite close by.
"Obviously I was wrong as I live in Swinton just south of Duns and 45 miles south of Edinburgh. It was quite spectacular, not unlike a firework with a nicely coloured tail."
Thom Fish, from Cramond, said: "I saw this in the sky to my south east as I approached the Calder junction of the city bypass from the A71 west.
"To be honest, I did think it was just a firework until I saw the news report. It was a very bright and luminous green."
The only annual meteor shower at this time of year are the Eta Aquarids, which are associated with Comet Halley, and are usually low in the sky viewed from the UK.
They reach maximum on the 5 May, but span the period between 24 April and 20 May.
England: Northumberland National Park -
UK UFO Sightings
Tue, 12 May 2009 19:01 UTC
Posted: May 12, 2009
Date of Sighting: 11th May 2009
Time: About 10pm
Witness Statement: Bright clear sky.
Object traveling from the south west towards North east.
Very bright green orb with white tail. I thought it was a firework but no. Perhaps a satellite. The sighting lasted 6 seconds within a restricted field of view. The object appeared to drop down low in an arc. That's it. Very odd
Date of Sighting: 11th May 2009
Time: About 10pm
Witness Statement: Bright clear sky.
Object traveling from the south west towards North east.
Very bright green orb with white tail. I thought it was a firework but no. Perhaps a satellite. The sighting lasted 6 seconds within a restricted field of view. The object appeared to drop down low in an arc. That's it. Very odd
Eric Walters
South Carolina Now/WBTW News
Wed, 13 May 2009 20:11 UTC
Reports of an earthquake in Pawleys Island Wednesday are unconfirmed.
Initial reports of an earthquake came in between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m.
According to a press release, seismometers around the state do not show an earthquake, however, data coverage in the area is sparse and a small earthquake out to sea is still possible.
According to Dr. Erin Beutel, Associate Professor, College of Charleston Dept. of Geology and Environmental Geosciences and Director of the SCEEP (South Carolina Earthquake Education and Preparedness), another possible source of earthquake reports, especially rattling along the coast, is a sonic boom at sea.
While planes are not allowed to cross the sound barrier over land, they are allowed to do so at sea and weather conditions may cause that boom to travel long distances.
There have been earthquake reports in years past from John's Island and Isle of Palms that did not show up on any seismometers and are strongly suspected to be sonic booms.
Posted: May 13, 2009
Date: April 30, 2009
Time: 9:14 p.m.
Number of witnesses: 2
Number of Objects: 1
Shape of Objects: Fireball.
Full Description of Event/Sighting: We were driving west on the Ring Road past the Albert Street bridge when we saw a bright blue/green fireball fly across the highway and burn out near the driving range.
According to a press release, seismometers around the state do not show an earthquake, however, data coverage in the area is sparse and a small earthquake out to sea is still possible.
According to Dr. Erin Beutel, Associate Professor, College of Charleston Dept. of Geology and Environmental Geosciences and Director of the SCEEP (South Carolina Earthquake Education and Preparedness), another possible source of earthquake reports, especially rattling along the coast, is a sonic boom at sea.
While planes are not allowed to cross the sound barrier over land, they are allowed to do so at sea and weather conditions may cause that boom to travel long distances.
There have been earthquake reports in years past from John's Island and Isle of Palms that did not show up on any seismometers and are strongly suspected to be sonic booms.
Brian Vike
HBCC UFO Research
Wed, 13 May 2009 13:19 UTC
Date: April 30, 2009
Time: 9:14 p.m.
Number of witnesses: 2
Number of Objects: 1
Shape of Objects: Fireball.
Full Description of Event/Sighting: We were driving west on the Ring Road past the Albert Street bridge when we saw a bright blue/green fireball fly across the highway and burn out near the driving range.
UFOINFO
Wed, 13 May 2009 13:39 UTC
Posted: May 13, 2009
Date: April 11 2009
Time: 21:30
Number of witnesses: 2
Number of objects: 1
Shape of objects: Orb shaped.
Weather Conditions: Clear sky.
Description: We saw a bright orange orb shaped object, which looked almost like it was on fire. It came from the Birmingham direction and disappeared into the direction of Walsall. It was moving faster than a airplane and was a lot larger. It appeared from the Birmingham direction and seemed to get lower in the sky and more intense in brightness then regained height and as it went further away from us it got a lot higher and faded out somewhere in the Walsall direction.
We also saw the same sort of object and occurrence about 2 weeks ago.
Date: April 11 2009
Time: 21:30
Number of witnesses: 2
Number of objects: 1
Shape of objects: Orb shaped.
Weather Conditions: Clear sky.
Description: We saw a bright orange orb shaped object, which looked almost like it was on fire. It came from the Birmingham direction and disappeared into the direction of Walsall. It was moving faster than a airplane and was a lot larger. It appeared from the Birmingham direction and seemed to get lower in the sky and more intense in brightness then regained height and as it went further away from us it got a lot higher and faded out somewhere in the Walsall direction.
We also saw the same sort of object and occurrence about 2 weeks ago.
UFOINFO
Wed, 13 May 2009 13:45 UTC
Posted: May 13, 2009
Date: April 12 2009
Time: 8.45pm approx
Number of witnesses: 6
Number of objects: 1
Shape of objects: Round with tail
Weather Conditions: Dry clear and dark
Description: Around 8.45pm we noticed what we thought at first was an aircraft on fire. It moved steadily across the sky from north west to south east, then veered southwards. The light was orange and 'raggedy' around the edges, like a flame. There was a 'tail' behind the light too. No noise was heard at all, and no wings of aircraft were visible in the glow. The light continued off into the far distance until it disappeared from our sight. The sighting lasted for approximately 4 minutes. The item was not moving at speed but was steady, until the change of course when it did speed up a little.
Anyone else see this at all? Any comments?
UFOINFO Note: As with other similar reports I asked the witness to have a look at the UFO Balloons website to see if this is what might have been seen and received the following reply:
Hi John, I had a look at this prior to messaging and it definitely wasn't one of these ufo balloons.
Kind Regards
Date: April 12 2009
Time: 8.45pm approx
Number of witnesses: 6
Number of objects: 1
Shape of objects: Round with tail
Weather Conditions: Dry clear and dark
Description: Around 8.45pm we noticed what we thought at first was an aircraft on fire. It moved steadily across the sky from north west to south east, then veered southwards. The light was orange and 'raggedy' around the edges, like a flame. There was a 'tail' behind the light too. No noise was heard at all, and no wings of aircraft were visible in the glow. The light continued off into the far distance until it disappeared from our sight. The sighting lasted for approximately 4 minutes. The item was not moving at speed but was steady, until the change of course when it did speed up a little.
Anyone else see this at all? Any comments?
UFOINFO Note: As with other similar reports I asked the witness to have a look at the UFO Balloons website to see if this is what might have been seen and received the following reply:
Hi John, I had a look at this prior to messaging and it definitely wasn't one of these ufo balloons.
Kind Regards
Carl Gavaghan
Whitby Gazette
Thu, 14 May 2009 20:18 UTC
A spectacular fireball was spotted streaking across the Whitby sky on Monday night.
A local resident saw the object just before 11pm as it moved across the sky before disappearing above the sea.
Alison Heffernan of Holly Tree Court, spotted something in the sky when she was watching television.
She said: "Me and my partner have been decorating so we didn't have any curtains up. We were watching TV and saw something bright going across the sky. It was about the size of a 10p piece and was very bright, it seemed to break up then disappear over the sea."
Mark Dawson of Whitby and District Astronomical Society said it sounded like a "fireball" which are a relatively common occurrence.
"From what she has described it sounds like a fireball which appear very bright in the sky," he said.
"They occur slightly randomly so you can't predict when they appear."
A local resident saw the object just before 11pm as it moved across the sky before disappearing above the sea.
Alison Heffernan of Holly Tree Court, spotted something in the sky when she was watching television.
She said: "Me and my partner have been decorating so we didn't have any curtains up. We were watching TV and saw something bright going across the sky. It was about the size of a 10p piece and was very bright, it seemed to break up then disappear over the sea."
Mark Dawson of Whitby and District Astronomical Society said it sounded like a "fireball" which are a relatively common occurrence.
"From what she has described it sounds like a fireball which appear very bright in the sky," he said.
"They occur slightly randomly so you can't predict when they appear."
Phil Coleman
News & Star
Sat, 16 May 2009 20:26 UTC
A huge fire which tore through a Cumbria peat bog near Carlisle may
have been caused by a meteor strike, according to some locals.
Firefighters spent several hours on Monday morning battling the blaze at Wedholme Flow, near Kirkbride, which at its height stretched for half a mile, leaving a wall of fire visible from miles around.
It has now emerged that some residents living near the bog reported seeing a white-hot meteor streaking through the night sky.
The theory is that it may have triggered fire shortly after striking the ground on Sunday night.
The nature reserve is managed by Natural England. Alasdair Brock, who is senior manager at the site, helped the team of 17 firefighters who tackled the blaze.
He said: "My wife Claire is a GP in Penrith, and a colleague of hers who was passing nearby saw the meteorite or something flashing through the sky in the general vicinity of the Solway mosses.
"I believe this man is a reliable witness, so it's entirely feasible this happened."
Natural England spokesman Will Herman said: "The meteor theory is a possible cause of the fire but there's no way now of verifying this as any meteorite is likely to have been small and would have buried itself in the peat, leaving little evidence.
"Our senior manager went out the next day to check that everything was out and to have a look around. Unfortunately he saw no evidence of the meteorite."
The meteor theory is thought to carry weight as the weather at the time of the fire was not particularly hot, and the area is not known for attracting vandals who might want to start fires, particularly late at night.
One eyewitness who may have seen the meteor was Paula Hinds, who was sitting at home in Langholm when her attention was drawn to a skylight. "It all happened in a split second," said Paula, 29. "I saw a light, like a firework but a lot bigger. It shot across the sky. It was about 10pm and it was heading towards Carlisle.
"It thought nothing more about it until the following morning when I heard about the fire and the idea that it may have been caused by a meteor."
Three fire crews from Carlisle, Wigton and Silloth used beaters to kill the flames as the fire spread.
A Cumbria fire service spokesman said: "The fire and smoke could be seen from several miles away."
David Sparkes, 57, who lives nearby, said the fire was first spotted by his 14-year-old daughter Marie.
"The whole lot went up very quickly," he said.
"Normally, the wind blows towards our house but fortunately that night it wasn't.
"We were out watching the fire until 12.30am."
Firefighters spent several hours on Monday morning battling the blaze at Wedholme Flow, near Kirkbride, which at its height stretched for half a mile, leaving a wall of fire visible from miles around.
It has now emerged that some residents living near the bog reported seeing a white-hot meteor streaking through the night sky.
The theory is that it may have triggered fire shortly after striking the ground on Sunday night.
The nature reserve is managed by Natural England. Alasdair Brock, who is senior manager at the site, helped the team of 17 firefighters who tackled the blaze.
He said: "My wife Claire is a GP in Penrith, and a colleague of hers who was passing nearby saw the meteorite or something flashing through the sky in the general vicinity of the Solway mosses.
"I believe this man is a reliable witness, so it's entirely feasible this happened."
Natural England spokesman Will Herman said: "The meteor theory is a possible cause of the fire but there's no way now of verifying this as any meteorite is likely to have been small and would have buried itself in the peat, leaving little evidence.
"Our senior manager went out the next day to check that everything was out and to have a look around. Unfortunately he saw no evidence of the meteorite."
The meteor theory is thought to carry weight as the weather at the time of the fire was not particularly hot, and the area is not known for attracting vandals who might want to start fires, particularly late at night.
One eyewitness who may have seen the meteor was Paula Hinds, who was sitting at home in Langholm when her attention was drawn to a skylight. "It all happened in a split second," said Paula, 29. "I saw a light, like a firework but a lot bigger. It shot across the sky. It was about 10pm and it was heading towards Carlisle.
"It thought nothing more about it until the following morning when I heard about the fire and the idea that it may have been caused by a meteor."
Three fire crews from Carlisle, Wigton and Silloth used beaters to kill the flames as the fire spread.
A Cumbria fire service spokesman said: "The fire and smoke could be seen from several miles away."
David Sparkes, 57, who lives nearby, said the fire was first spotted by his 14-year-old daughter Marie.
"The whole lot went up very quickly," he said.
"Normally, the wind blows towards our house but fortunately that night it wasn't.
"We were out watching the fire until 12.30am."
UFOINFO
Sun, 17 May 2009 16:13 UTC
Date: April 13 2009
Time: 9:30 pm
Number of witnesses: 2
Number of objects: 3
Shape of objects: Round
Weather Conditions: Clear sky
Description: Me and my mate were walking home and I spotted what looked like 3 fireballs in the sky, they were traveling quite slow in the sky and they looked like they were coming towards us, we didn't know what to do. This is the second time we have seen them in the same area. We have video footage but didn't know how to put it on here.
UK UFO Sightings
Sun, 17 May 2009 19:46 UTC
Posted: May 17, 2009
Date of Sighting: 11th May 2009
Time: 22.15
Witness Statement: On way home from Blaydon to Gateshead, myself and my partner saw this heading from south to north-ish, it was Bright white with a luminous green trail. At approx 10:15pm, we were on the A1 western bypass on the south bound Carridge Way just past the metro center near to the Dunston Slip Road when we saw it.
My partner said "Ohh look a shooting star" and when i looked i said" thats way to close and big to be a shooting star", i recon it be about the size of a small car at a hight no higher than the police helicopter when out on a job, and it was moving extreamly fast, way faster than any plane i know of that flys over the city.
At first reaction I thought it was falling to the ground by the angle I saw it at. But after getting home and checking on a map the direction we were traveling and location, I realised it was traveling level.
I did report this to the police, whom must have thought I was completely mad or on some sort of narcotic substance. I was totally shook up by this at the thought of it being a aeroplane crashing into the city. Good job it wasn't.
Anyways I emailed Alan Robson on metro radio who read the email out and seemed to get quite a number of responses from it. One listener said it was some sort of silent rocket, as it made no sound. Also on Facebook some one in Alnwick wrote they heard what sounded to be a aeroplane about to crash, but they didn't see anything, this was within a few mins of myself seeing it.
Approx 11:15pm the police came for a statement and said they had not had any more reports as of then.
Date of Sighting: 20th May 2009
Time: 12.15 am
Witness Statement: Flying North East just freaked out me and 2 pals. Big almost looked on fire, high up in the sky and fast moving. Unbelievable!
Date: April 25 2009
Time: About 9:37pm
Number of witnesses: 7
Number of objects: 1
Shape of objects: Looked Circular
Weather Conditions: Dry, Not Too Cloudy
Description: Just came out my car from work when I noticed a bright light in the sky. As it came closer it was bright orange and looked as though there were small flames coming from it. As it moved past me and a little bit further it seemed to burst into flames, small pieces fell from it and it then disappeared.
Date of Sighting: 11th May 2009
Time: 22.15
Witness Statement: On way home from Blaydon to Gateshead, myself and my partner saw this heading from south to north-ish, it was Bright white with a luminous green trail. At approx 10:15pm, we were on the A1 western bypass on the south bound Carridge Way just past the metro center near to the Dunston Slip Road when we saw it.
My partner said "Ohh look a shooting star" and when i looked i said" thats way to close and big to be a shooting star", i recon it be about the size of a small car at a hight no higher than the police helicopter when out on a job, and it was moving extreamly fast, way faster than any plane i know of that flys over the city.
At first reaction I thought it was falling to the ground by the angle I saw it at. But after getting home and checking on a map the direction we were traveling and location, I realised it was traveling level.
I did report this to the police, whom must have thought I was completely mad or on some sort of narcotic substance. I was totally shook up by this at the thought of it being a aeroplane crashing into the city. Good job it wasn't.
Anyways I emailed Alan Robson on metro radio who read the email out and seemed to get quite a number of responses from it. One listener said it was some sort of silent rocket, as it made no sound. Also on Facebook some one in Alnwick wrote they heard what sounded to be a aeroplane about to crash, but they didn't see anything, this was within a few mins of myself seeing it.
Approx 11:15pm the police came for a statement and said they had not had any more reports as of then.
UK UFO Sightings
Wed, 20 May 2009 18:58 UTC
Date of Sighting: 20th May 2009
Time: 12.15 am
Witness Statement: Flying North East just freaked out me and 2 pals. Big almost looked on fire, high up in the sky and fast moving. Unbelievable!
UFOINFO
Sun, 24 May 2009 13:51 UTC
Date: April 25 2009
Time: About 9:37pm
Number of witnesses: 7
Number of objects: 1
Shape of objects: Looked Circular
Weather Conditions: Dry, Not Too Cloudy
Description: Just came out my car from work when I noticed a bright light in the sky. As it came closer it was bright orange and looked as though there were small flames coming from it. As it moved past me and a little bit further it seemed to burst into flames, small pieces fell from it and it then disappeared.
Press TV
Thu, 28 May 2009 11:03 UTC
A Russian scientist is claiming that aliens downed Tunguska meteorite in 1908, causing a massive explosion in Siberia to protect the earth from destruction.
Dr. Yuriy Lavbin, president of the Tunguska Spatial Phenomenon Foundation, insists that if an alien spacecraft had failed to place itself between our planet and the gigantic meteorite a century ago, the full force of collision above Siberia would have been disastrous.
He provided 10 recovered quartz crystals collected from the crash site as proof. Several of the crystals have holes in between, so they can be united in a chain.
"We don't have any technologies that can print such kind of drawings on crystals," Labvin told the Macedonian International News Agency.
"We also found ferrum silicate that can not be produced anywhere, except in space," added the scientist.
Labvin thinks the marked quartz slabs are remnants of an alien control panel, which fell to the ground after the UFO slammed into the giant rock.
The findings add a new original theory to what most scientists have explained over the years as a meteorite exploding several miles above the surface of the earth.
During the Tunguska event, a massive explosion estimated at 15 megatons spread over 2,150 square kilometers (830 square miles) downing nearly 80 million trees. The impact left no casualties in the sparsely populated area.
Some scientists believed the Tunguska event is the largest impact event on land in the Earth's recent history.
Dr. Yuriy Lavbin, president of the Tunguska Spatial Phenomenon Foundation, insists that if an alien spacecraft had failed to place itself between our planet and the gigantic meteorite a century ago, the full force of collision above Siberia would have been disastrous.
He provided 10 recovered quartz crystals collected from the crash site as proof. Several of the crystals have holes in between, so they can be united in a chain.
"We don't have any technologies that can print such kind of drawings on crystals," Labvin told the Macedonian International News Agency.
"We also found ferrum silicate that can not be produced anywhere, except in space," added the scientist.
Labvin thinks the marked quartz slabs are remnants of an alien control panel, which fell to the ground after the UFO slammed into the giant rock.
The findings add a new original theory to what most scientists have explained over the years as a meteorite exploding several miles above the surface of the earth.
During the Tunguska event, a massive explosion estimated at 15 megatons spread over 2,150 square kilometers (830 square miles) downing nearly 80 million trees. The impact left no casualties in the sparsely populated area.
Some scientists believed the Tunguska event is the largest impact event on land in the Earth's recent history.
UK UFO Sightings
Thu, 28 May 2009 18:50 UTC
Posted: May 28, 2009
Date of Sighting: 13th April 2009
Time: 3:20am
Witness Statement: I had just given birth to my baby at Salford Royal (Hope Hosp.) I was on the maternity unit, and woke to feed my baby. I looked out of the window which looks over the M602 towards Trafford Park Industrial Estate. I spotted what looked like a flair from a flair gun traveling from the direction of Eccles towards Manchester city centre. It traveled at a continuous speed in a straight line. The moon was full and the sky was clear. I estimated the object to be traveling at the same height and speed as a small aircraft. The object appeared to be a orange glowing circular shape and made no obvious sound.
Date of Sighting: 13th April 2009
Time: 3:20am
Witness Statement: I had just given birth to my baby at Salford Royal (Hope Hosp.) I was on the maternity unit, and woke to feed my baby. I looked out of the window which looks over the M602 towards Trafford Park Industrial Estate. I spotted what looked like a flair from a flair gun traveling from the direction of Eccles towards Manchester city centre. It traveled at a continuous speed in a straight line. The moon was full and the sky was clear. I estimated the object to be traveling at the same height and speed as a small aircraft. The object appeared to be a orange glowing circular shape and made no obvious sound.
HBCC UFO Research
Wed, 13 May 2009 12:09 UTC
Posted: May 13, 2009
Date: May 2, 2009
Time: 10:30 p.m.
Number of witnesses: 1
Number of Objects: 1
Shape of Objects: Round flame.
Full Description of Event/Sighting: I came out of the house to go to the shop, I looked up, which I often do because we live very close to Cardiff Airport and are used to seeing planes and associate noises, but this was different. The object was moving slowly through the sky at a few hundred feet. It appeared to be a ball of flame (light) (I cursed because I had seen something very similar 5 months before with 4 witnesses and didn't have a camera) remembering that I had my mobile with me, I filmed it for about 90 seconds in which time it moved across the sky with no noise towards Cardiff got maybe 2 miles away and disappeared at a very steep rate towards the stars.
The objects that I had seen before did exactly the same thing only there were two before about 5 minutes apart. I have the recording on my phone, still I don't know what it was or how it reached the speed it did so quickly. Does anyone have any clues ?
Date: May 2, 2009
Time: 10:30 p.m.
Number of witnesses: 1
Number of Objects: 1
Shape of Objects: Round flame.
Full Description of Event/Sighting: I came out of the house to go to the shop, I looked up, which I often do because we live very close to Cardiff Airport and are used to seeing planes and associate noises, but this was different. The object was moving slowly through the sky at a few hundred feet. It appeared to be a ball of flame (light) (I cursed because I had seen something very similar 5 months before with 4 witnesses and didn't have a camera) remembering that I had my mobile with me, I filmed it for about 90 seconds in which time it moved across the sky with no noise towards Cardiff got maybe 2 miles away and disappeared at a very steep rate towards the stars.
The objects that I had seen before did exactly the same thing only there were two before about 5 minutes apart. I have the recording on my phone, still I don't know what it was or how it reached the speed it did so quickly. Does anyone have any clues ?
UFOs Northwest
Thu, 14 May 2009 14:03 UTC
Date of Sighting: May 14, 2009
Time of Sighting: 10:45 PM CDT
Location of Sighting: Gravelly, Arkansas (W. Arkansas About 60 MI WNW of Little Rock)
Description: I was riding my 4 wheeler on a perfectly clear night. I was rounding a curve and something caught my eye. I turned my attention to the sky. It was almost like two fireballs side by side traveling north. The fireballs completely lit up the sky. They seemed to be stretched out traveling fast, and in an instant they were gone. I have two friends who were looking at the same thing and wondering what we had just seen.
Note: The report sounds like that meteors or space junk were sighted. It is less likely that two meteors would be sighted together (unless they broke up from one meteor). Space junk entering the atmosphere is another possible explanation. Two satellites had decaying orbits on May 14, 2009. However, it is not known if the satellites entered the atmosphere on May 14 and if they did whether or not the entry would be visible from Arkansas.
Time of Sighting: 10:45 PM CDT
Location of Sighting: Gravelly, Arkansas (W. Arkansas About 60 MI WNW of Little Rock)
Description: I was riding my 4 wheeler on a perfectly clear night. I was rounding a curve and something caught my eye. I turned my attention to the sky. It was almost like two fireballs side by side traveling north. The fireballs completely lit up the sky. They seemed to be stretched out traveling fast, and in an instant they were gone. I have two friends who were looking at the same thing and wondering what we had just seen.
Note: The report sounds like that meteors or space junk were sighted. It is less likely that two meteors would be sighted together (unless they broke up from one meteor). Space junk entering the atmosphere is another possible explanation. Two satellites had decaying orbits on May 14, 2009. However, it is not known if the satellites entered the atmosphere on May 14 and if they did whether or not the entry would be visible from Arkansas.
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