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Fireball Mania!
Spaceweather ^ | Feb 16th, 2009

Posted on 02/16/2009 11:04:17 AM PST by TaraP

FIREBALL MANIA: Runners in Sunday's Austin marathon were astonished when a brilliant fireball raced across the Texas sky in broad daylight. The extremely-bright meteor descended at 11 am CST on Feb. 15th less than a day after the FAA reportedly warned U.S. pilots to watch for "falling space debris" from the recent satellite collision between Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251. Click on the image to launch a News 8 Austin video:

What you just saw was not satellite debris. The high speed of the fireball in the News 8 video is typical of a natural meteoroid hitting Earth's atmosphere at tens of km/s. Orbital debris, on the other hand, should crawl across the sky at a fraction of that speed. Astronomer Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office has analyzed the video and confirms "it's a natural meteor, definitely." According to Cooke's analysis, the source of the fireball was a meter-class asteroid traveling at about 20 km/s.

Fireball mania started on Friday the 13th, around 10 pm EST, when people in central Kentucky heard loud booms, felt their houses shake, and saw a fireball streaking through the sky: reports. "The world appeared to explode--in green!" said one eyewitness. Once again, this appears to be a natural event caused by a meteoroid. Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 collided at a speed of about 10 km/s or 22,000 mph. None of the surviving fragments should have been big enough to shake houses in Kentucky. Furthermore, US Space Command, which monitors objects in Earth orbit, has not announced a reentry over Kentucky on Feb. 13th.

THIS JUST IN: On the evening of Friday the 13th, around 2003 UT, multiple cameras in Italy recorded a fireball at least 10 times brighter than a full Moon. Astronomer Diego Valeri sends this movie from Rieti. (Note: DivX is required to view the movie.) Ferruccio Zanotti of Ferrara recorded that same fireball and two others. Italian scientists are plotting the trajectory of the brightest fireball to estimate where it might have hit the ground; a meteorite hunt will soon be underway


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: meteor
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1 posted on 02/16/2009 11:04:17 AM PST by TaraP
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To: KevinDavis

Space ping


2 posted on 02/16/2009 11:09:39 AM PST by BenLurkin (Mornie` utulie`. Mornie` alantie`.)
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To: TaraP

“The world appeared to explode—in green!”

Isn’t that what they said at the end of “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMdY7KC0oMA


3 posted on 02/16/2009 11:09:58 AM PST by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast (American Revolution II -- overdue.)
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To: TaraP

I’m in southern Ohio. about 17 miles north of Ripley on the Ohio River.

Saturday night...around 9 PM I noticed a very bright Green and White ‘fireball’ heading almost due south. Sucker lit up the sky, and had to have covered a couple of hundred miles being just ‘disappearing’...not over the horizon but just ‘gone’.

It made such an impression I called a couple of friends living on the other side of Georgetown Ohio from us, and asked if they saw/heard anything.

We sure are seeing ‘something’ in the sky right now folks. I’m fortunate enough to have a hot tub, and spend a large amount of time in the evening ‘sky watching’ while taking a long soak. Because of where we are in a rural location, we can easily see the shuttle or the space station, not to mention meteorites every night, every time.

I don’t recall this much ‘traffic’ of this type before.


4 posted on 02/16/2009 11:10:32 AM PST by Badeye (There are no 'great moments' in Moderate Political History. Only losses.)
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To: Badeye

Could it be another sign of the times, stuff happening in the heavenlies? Hmmmm.....


5 posted on 02/16/2009 11:17:30 AM PST by Marysecretary (.GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL)
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To: TaraP

Isn’t the appearance of a fireball in the sky supposed to bode ill for the current leader of that country?

The heavens don’t approve of Mr. Obama.


6 posted on 02/16/2009 11:18:28 AM PST by BigBobber
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To: TaraP; Badeye

Link to video(without the Luis Shanks clip) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roqm1ofUFko


7 posted on 02/16/2009 11:18:36 AM PST by BenLurkin (Mornie` utulie`. Mornie` alantie`.)
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To: Marysecretary

One explanation is as good as another. I just know we’ve had a rash of UFO sitings this month, ‘fireballs’ in the sky at night...and in broad daylight as this article details, satellites colliding....its odd.


8 posted on 02/16/2009 11:19:28 AM PST by Badeye (There are no 'great moments' in Moderate Political History. Only losses.)
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To: BenLurkin

If you watch this and think ‘night, white and green’ its EXACTLY what I saw Saturday night here in Ohio.


9 posted on 02/16/2009 11:20:45 AM PST by Badeye (There are no 'great moments' in Moderate Political History. Only losses.)
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To: Badeye
a rash of UFO sitings this month, ‘fireballs’ in the sky at night...and in broad daylight as this article details, satellites colliding....its odd.

Ask any Øbot, it's Bush's fault.

Yea, still.

10 posted on 02/16/2009 11:25:16 AM PST by TLI ( ITINERIS IMPENDEO VALHALLA)
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To: TaraP
I know who and what it was.

Calvin of Calvin & Hobbes fame in his "Spaceman Spiff" role and his mom or the teacher were involved in the flameout. Any more questions, just ask.

11 posted on 02/16/2009 11:27:37 AM PST by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin (Freedom is the freedom to discipline yourself so others don't have to do it for you.)
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To: BenLurkin
Doesn't look 'natural' at all.

Doesn't even show itself till relatively low in the sky, then flares intensely green VERY close to the ground.

Could it be that our government is lying again?

12 posted on 02/16/2009 11:35:37 AM PST by JOAT
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To: TLI

BDS is real, no denying it.


13 posted on 02/16/2009 11:36:35 AM PST by Badeye (There are no 'great moments' in Moderate Political History. Only losses.)
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To: SpinnerWebb

bump for later viewing


14 posted on 02/16/2009 11:38:43 AM PST by SpinnerWebb (mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves)
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To: Badeye

Sure is. the bible says we’ll have strange occurances in the heavenlies and that could be the explanation. Hard to say.


15 posted on 02/16/2009 11:53:05 AM PST by Marysecretary (.GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL)
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To: Marysecretary

The bible says lots of things.


16 posted on 02/16/2009 11:54:26 AM PST by Badeye (There are no 'great moments' in Moderate Political History. Only losses.)
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To: Marysecretary
A warm up for the Ezekiel Option?
17 posted on 02/16/2009 12:27:24 PM PST by SubMareener (Become a monthly donor! Free FreeRepublic.com from Quarterly FReepathons!)
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To: TaraP
Local station KXXV has fireball on weather radar.


UPDATE: Fiery debris not from satellites

18 posted on 02/16/2009 12:30:32 PM PST by evets (beer)
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Some area residents saw the falling debris Sunday morning.

Jetta Hicks was driving on FM 1624 west of Calvert when she said she saw something burning in the sky, falling at a 45-degree angle.

She said it had a tail and appeared to be flaming.

She said she didn’t see anything hit the ground.

A resident of the Hubbard area reported seeking smoke high in the air at the time of the explosion and a camper at Mother Neff State Park in Coryell County spotted smoke from the falling debris.

Another witness who was in the Belton area described seeing “a ball of fire coming out of the sky.”

Residents reported feeling the explosion from the Marlin area north to Corsicana.

Authorities checked on reports of debris in the Leroy area early Sunday afternoon, but none has been found so far.

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/39638797.html


19 posted on 02/16/2009 12:45:02 PM PST by evets (beer)
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To: JOAT
Doesn't look 'natural' at all. Doesn't even show itself till relatively low in the sky, then flares intensely green VERY close to the ground.

It was a meteorite. No big deal. Very natural occurrence and not all that uncommon. Saw one pass over my house one summer evening while playing in my back yard when I was a kid.

It was so close that I could hear a whistling, swooshing sound as it went by overhead.

It was definitely greenish in color, although I remember it as being more turquoise. It was bright, lit up the ground like a huge lightening bolt. And it looked huge but in reality it was probably the size of somewhere between a soccer ball and a soft ball and burned up to nothing more than a cinder before hitting the ground.
20 posted on 02/16/2009 12:51:37 PM PST by Caramelgal (This tagline is currently on strike, waiting for my bail out. I want me some tagline porkulus!)
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