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Flashes, booms reported over Western Washington
Seatle Post Int ^ | 6/3/2004 | AP

Posted on 06/03/2004 5:38:41 AM PDT by Selene

SEATTLE -- Bright flashes and sharp booms were reported in the skies over the Puget Sound area early Thursday, and aviation officials said a meteor may have been the source.

An early report that a meteor might have hit near Chehalis, about 90 miles south of the city, turned out to be false, a University of Washington scientist who specializes in meteorites said.

Toby Smith, a lecturer in astronomy, told The Associated Press scientists were looking into the cause of the skybursts reported over a wide area about 2:40 a.m.

Witnesses along a 60-mile swath of the sound from near Tacoma to Whidbey Island and as far as 100 miles to the east near Ellensburg said the sky lit up brightly, and many also reported booming sounds as if from one or more explosions.

(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: meteor
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To: datura
The report followed the flash by over three minutes - and it was HUGE.

Enterprise going to warp?

Doc Brown's time machine hitting 88 MPH?

Superman and Darkseid coming to blows?

61 posted on 06/03/2004 7:27:30 AM PDT by mhking ("Enterprise" finale: Yeah, we saved Earth, but I hate Illinois Nazis...)
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To: Selene
"WHAT?"

Just swamp gas.

...no, really.

62 posted on 06/03/2004 7:29:14 AM PDT by Landru (Indulgences: 2 for a buck.)
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To: big ern
The flash lit up my bedroom and I happened to be awake to see it. I actually got to see something other people are talking about...usually I sleep through everything.

For once, having Puppy Bladder is a good thing.

63 posted on 06/03/2004 7:30:54 AM PDT by BBT
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To: big ern; Selene
I saw it and have a hard time believing it was a meteor. I woke up unexpectedly and a bright flash happened pointing north, it shown brightly through the mini-blinds in our bedroom. A few minutes later the “rumble” followed.

Very strange.

64 posted on 06/03/2004 7:39:54 AM PDT by schu
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To: schu

Why do you have a hard time believing it's a meteor? It fits the profile.


65 posted on 06/03/2004 7:45:32 AM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: Selene
Witnesses along a 60-mile swath of the sound from near Tacoma to Whidbey Island

I live on Whidbey, and I thought the "booms" were the usual sonic booms I hear occasionally from fighter planes coming from the Whidbey Is. Naval air base.

66 posted on 06/03/2004 7:50:11 AM PDT by Mr. Mojo
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To: Steve_Seattle

It was very, very bright, IMHO too bright for meteor. I have not heard any reports that it was a meteor?


67 posted on 06/03/2004 8:07:37 AM PDT by schu
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Bump...


68 posted on 06/03/2004 8:12:45 AM PDT by Chad Fairbanks (You make me feel warm all over. No...wait...I'm soaking in a puddle of my own urine.)
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To: Selene

I saw what looked like a shooting star last night around 11:30pm eastern time in Jacksonville, FL, but it seperated into multiple fiery streaks while coming down. Looked kind of like the shuttle coming back in pieces, but not as big. It was North - Northeast from here.


69 posted on 06/03/2004 8:18:19 AM PDT by Dixie Pirate (Deo Vindice!)
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To: oceanperch

Ping!


70 posted on 06/03/2004 8:29:17 AM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: schu

Large Meteorites have been known to "detonate" in the atmosphere without ever impacting the surface.

That huge area of Siberia that was levelled back in the early 1900s was attributed recently to a large meteor detonation. I don't think that they ever found craters or where anything actually hit the ground.

Fortunately it was all over uninhabited wilderness and no one got hurt by it.

They say that these detonations can be equivalent to a multi - megaton nuclear device, and a big one over an inhabited area could be big trouble for inhabitants.

There was a metorite detonation over the middle East back during the Gulf War, apparently, and for a while there the military thought that some one had popped a nuke in the area. I guess there were a lot of severely puckered sphincters for a while there untill they got it sorted out as an act of God, rather than an act of Allah.

It sounds as if whatever this was happened over Western Canada someplace. Do we have any reports from up thattaway?

For that matter, have we heard ANYTHING from Western Canada this Morning??!! Hello!: Anyone still alive up there??!!


71 posted on 06/03/2004 8:29:41 AM PDT by Uncle Jaque ("Scots; WaeHa'ye Where Wallace Bled; Scots Wham Bruce Hae Aften Led;... ")
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To: Selene

Bremerton AFB-Tacoma?


72 posted on 06/03/2004 8:29:53 AM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: schu
Meteors can be very bright. In fact, large fireballs can and do sometimes enter the earths atmosphere, create alot of light, and then detonate up high where it can take a few minutes for the sound to reach ground. This even fits the profile quite well.

Things like this occur more often than most people probably think, its just that it is pretty rare when it happens close to a developed, densely populated area that gets media exposure.

Some other infor here

73 posted on 06/03/2004 8:32:17 AM PDT by Paradox (Occam was probably right.)
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To: Selene
Witnesses along a 60-mile swath of the sound from near Tacoma to Whidbey Island and as far as 100 miles to the east near Ellensburg said the sky lit up brightly, and many also reported booming sounds as if from one or more explosions.

I see that all the time when it is lightning here in Eastern Washington. :-)

74 posted on 06/03/2004 9:04:06 AM PDT by Spunky ("Everyone has a freedom of choice, but not of consequences.")
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To: schu

A meteor entering the earth's atmosphere can be a spectacular sight, unlike the pinpoint streaks that you see from far-off meteor showers.


75 posted on 06/03/2004 9:05:09 AM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: Uncle Jaque
That was my first impression, a high intensity explosion, very bright, very intense, the idea of a nuke crossed my mind.

What are the experts saying it was?

76 posted on 06/03/2004 9:11:10 AM PDT by schu
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To: OldFriend

It's a Naval Air Station. The EP-3E that was involved in the collision has been repaired and flown again in US Navy service.


77 posted on 06/03/2004 9:12:29 AM PDT by Tommyjo
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To: Selene

I heard it this morning. Sounded like small explosions going off. Several quick, boom, boom, boom, boom. But, I didn't see the flashes.


78 posted on 06/03/2004 9:19:50 AM PDT by RetiredArmy ( I am a Vietnam Vet, thus I am a war criminal according to Flip Kerry.)
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To: schu

"Geoff Chester, a spokesman for the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. said it was a type of meteor called a bolide, one which appears bright like a fireball in the sky."


79 posted on 06/03/2004 9:20:00 AM PDT by Tommyjo
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To: Selene

I didn't do it.


80 posted on 06/03/2004 9:21:17 AM PDT by Not A Snowbird (You need tons click "co-ordinating")
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