BBC News
2005/02/28 13:53:52 GMT
Meteor shower seen in South West OF ENGLAND
People living in Cornwall have reported sightings of meteors falling from the sky on Sunday night.
An object described as a white hot meteor with a yellow edge was seen in the sky, and is thought to have landed in the sea off St Ives.
A second meteor was reported in the Torrington area of Devon.
The sightings are believed to be part of the Virginids meteor shower which happens every year from mid-February and lasts about three weeks.
Meteor showers happen when the earth passes through the tail of a comet, and debris burns up in the atmosphere. From the ground, they can be seen as jets of bright light, shooting across the sky.
Because the Earth follows the same path around the Sun each year, it always crosses a comet trail at the same point in its orbit, resulting in regular meteor showers.
Devon and Cornwall Police say there have been no reports of any damage or injury as a result of the objects.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/4305175.stm
Published: 2005/02/28 13:53:52 GMT
Flaming Meteor Streaks Across Northwestern Skies
March 12, 2005
http://www.komotv.com/stories/35704.htm
By KOMO Staff & News Services
SEATTLE - A fireball streaked through the night sky across the western half of the Pacific Northwest on Saturday, startling people all the way from southern Oregon to the Seattle area.
Hundreds of Washington residents called the KOMO news desk to report seeing a bright green object streak across the sky just before 8 p.m.
Scientists said the fireball was probably a meteor, and that it likely disintegrated just before any fragments fell into the Pacific Ocean.
"(I) was driving west through Glenoma on Highway 206 and saw this huge green object coming down in front of us from left to right," said Keith, a viewer who e-mailed us. "It was more awesome that Mt. St. Helens blowing."
Summer Jensen of Portland said she was sitting in her living room with her father when she saw the flash of light outside and rushed to see what it was.
"It was like a big ball of fire" and "behind it was a trail of blue," she said.
"I've never seen anything like that," Jensen said, adding that the object appeared to be moving slowly.
Michael O'Connor, a duty officer at the Federal Aviation Administration's regional office in Renton, Wash., said he fielded "a whole ton of calls" from people reporting they had seen a bright streak across the sky shortly before 8 p.m.
He said police, pilots and some air traffic controllers described it as "a green ball of fire with a long tail."
O'Connor said reports came from as far east as the Tri-Cities area in Washington.
"It appears to have come down over the ocean," said Dick Pugh, with the Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory in Portland.
He said the object flew over the Pacific Coast, streaking along from south to north.
Melinda Hutson, another expert at the lab, said meteors large enough to turn into fireballs are uncommon.
To get a fireball, it has to be "a big piece of rock or metal - most are pieces of asteroids. Once every once in a while a piece of the moon or Mars breaks off," she said.
Astronomer Jim Todd, planetarium director at the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry, said that if the meteor had entered the atmosphere during the daytime, it may not even have be noticed.
"It creates a bright contrast against the night sky," Todd said.
So, we were lucky it came at night.
"My husband and I were out in our hot tub and we were watching the southern sky and… wow! This was no shooting star! We watched it go clear across the sky with a long tail; so bright and amazing to see!" said Stacee in Kingston.
The last time a meteor was reported striking anything on the ground in Oregon - becoming a meteorite - was in May 1981.
But on June 3, a similar meteor streak lit up the Northwestern skies. You can read more from our komotv.com archives
On March 27, 2003, more than 100 chunks of rock believed to be the remains of a meteor rained down on houses, puncturing roofs and destroying landscaping in Park Forest, Ill., a suburb south of Chicago. No one was injured.