I just found this piece of information on the DUTCH METEOR SOCIETY (DMS)
homepage - subparagraph RESULTS & NEWS.
Netsite: http://home.pi.net/~terkuile/meteors/dms.htm
Does anyone have reliable background information?
Fireball the size of a car reportedly crashes into Columbia
River The Associated
Press01/08/98 10:32 AM KENNEWICK,
Wash. (AP) -- A ball of fire as big as a car and
trailing orange and red flames splashed
into the Columbia River near here, a witness said.
"It was fast, real fast," said Judy
Smiley. "It splashed the water up ... I'm going, `I can't
believe this."' Smiley was driving
east through Kennewick's Columbia Park when she saw
the object fall from the sky around
9:55 p.m. Wednesday. She said it was nearly as big as
her Chevy Cavalier. A dispatcher at
the Franklin County 911 center said at least one
person -- maybe two -- reported seeing
the fireball, and that Pasco police may investigate
today. A United Airlines pilot reported
seeing two or three meteors in Mid-Columbia
skies Wednesday night, said Lee Fryer
at the Federal Aviation Administration in Seattle.
However, most meteors burn up by the
time they hit the ground, Fryer said. Smiley said
she was headed home from a friend's
house Wednesday night when she saw a light in the
sky to the east. At first it looked
like a bright airplane light, but it was headed toward the
Tri-Cities too fast, she said. "I
slowed down and watched it," Smiley said. "It started
coming straight down. It was going
right in front of me almost." After about a minute of
watching, the light was coming in
faster and she saw the flames. "I slammed on my
breaks," she said, and the object
then pounded into the river.
This event happened about 140km east of where I live.
Dan Petersen
petersen@worldaccessnet.com
Regards, Bernd