Boy I was tired last night. Correction: the morse code signal is HOVO. NOT HOBO. . . . _ is V. _ ... is B. I was brain dead or something. Oh well.
So the information packets may indeed be telemetry regarding the incoming "snowball"?
I too am glad that the main part of this is now certified as a hoax, but like yourself will be keeping an eye on the skies at night until later this month, as well as supplies on hand and plenty of ammo.
Without the snowball recording, one would take the coincidental events of today and surmise that there may be either a large terrorist strike and/or a large preemptive strike in the works for the last week of this month. If I were a mullah in Iran, a North Korean military member, or even a Chinese Communist Party member, I'd be worried about my future. Nothing like multiple sunrises, and there would be little or no warning should our strike come from space. Sleep tight, Axis of Evil..........