Posted on 06/03/2004 6:26:16 AM PDT by travelnurse
Possible Meteor Over Western Washington
Thursday, June 03, 2004
SEATTLE Bright flashes and sharp booms were reported in the skies over the Puget Sound (search) area early Thursday, and aviation officials said a meteor (search) 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.
Officials at the National Weather Service (search) ruled out any weather-related causes, and duty officers at the Federal Aviation Administration (search) and the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station told The Associated Press they knew of no civilian or military airplane problems.
Civilian pilots reported seeing the flash from Ellensburg, east of the Cascade Range, said an FAA duty officer who did not give her name.
At Whidbey Island, Petty Officer Andrew Davis said he and other saw the skyburst.
"It made a pretty big bang," Davis said. "We thought it could maybe be a meteorite (a meteor that has struck Earth) or something."
A man who identified himself as University of Washington astronomy professor Bradley Hammermaster told KIRO Radio a team was being assembled to head for an area where the meteor was believed to have hit, but that call appeared to be a hoax, Smith said.
No one by the name of Hammermaster is known to the astronomy department, and the description given by the caller to the station of the object -- an automobile-sized piece of a small car from a piece of the larger Trilene meteor -- was clearly bogus, Smith added.
ChiCom test shot, with a "flashbang" dummy warhead?
Is the end of the world as we know it right around the corner?
It may not be the beginning of the end for the U.S., but I'm willing to bet it is for certain terror-harboring and producing nations.
Too much for a coincidence.
(And you're right, the Islamic terror cells are working overtime, I'm sure.)
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Oh, no !! .....Possible Meteor Over Western Washington
Then again it could just be a meteor.
hehe hehe, party pooper!
NEW YORK Associated Press editors were forced to retract an earlier report that a meteorite might have hit near Olympia, Wash., this morning after discovering that a source, one Bradley Hammermaster, claiming to be an astronomy professor, had perpetrated a hoax.
"An early report that a meteor might have hit turned out to be false," said AP spokesman Jack Stokes. "It looks like a version (of the story) was killed because it talked about a meteorite hitting." He said AP was reviewing how the error occurred.
The original story, which AP released at 7:03 a.m. EST, stated that someone identified as Bradley Hammermaster, and purported to be a University of Washington astronomy instructor, had told KIRO Radio in Seattle that a piece of meteor "about the size of a small car" had hit just before 3 a.m. PST.
The radio station also quoted the man as saying "a team was being assembled to head for the area where the object was believed to have hit near the tiny southwestern Washington community of Chehalis."
This version was picked up by dozens of news sites, most of which later deleted the Hammermaster references.
The bogus report followed genuine reports of bright lights being seen along a 60-mile stretch of the Puget Sound, which National Weather Service and U.S. Coast Guard officials were investigating as either a streaking meteor or other outer space activity, AP reported.
An AP advisory sent out at about 7:23 a.m. EST stated, "The AP story Meteorite-Washington ... has been eliminated. The identity of the source of the story cannot be confirmed."
Later versions of the AP story revealed the hoax.
"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," AP reported. "A man who identified himself as University of Washington astronomy professor Bradley Hammermaster told KIRO Radio a team was being assembled to head for an area where the meteor was believed to have hit, but that call appeared to be a hoax, Smith said."
The story added, "No one by the name of Hammermaster is known to the astronomy department, and the description given by the caller to the station of the object -- an automobile-sized piece of a small car from a piece of the larger Trilene meteor -- was clearly bogus."
Joe Strupp (jstrupp@editorandpublisher.com) is senior editor for E&P.
Bookmarked.
haha ! :^D
NEW YORK Associated Press editors were forced to retract an earlier report that a meteorite might have hit near Olympia, Wash., this morning after discovering that a source, one Bradley Hammermaster, claiming to be an astronomy professor, had perpetrated a hoax.Did the AP ever get around to printing the story about Jean Keri 'flipping off' the Veteran at the VietNam Memorial ??? I don't think they did.
But yet, they would publish 'The Sky is Falling' story .....
bump to #32 .....
"The story added, "No one by the name of Hammermaster is known to the astronomy department, and the description given by the caller to the station of the object -- an automobile-sized piece of a small car from a piece of the larger Trilene meteor -- was clearly bogus."
The media playing games again??The media ALWAYS plays the LIBERAL BIAS game, imho .....
I just had to bring that up. They'll [AP] print this BS, yet IGNORE REAL NEWS
like Jean Keri's abusing a REAL Vet at the VietNam Memorial.
Media Bia ????
You bet your Bippy !!
Doh !! 'Bia" s/b 'Bias'
Don't know who he is, but the story is not BS.
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