[meteorite-list] Meteor Shower Lights Northeast Sky

From: Rhett Bourland <rbourlan_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:43:33 2004
Message-ID: <IOEBKAHMGFBDJMOFGDFNMEKGCIAA.rbourlan_at_evansville.net>

Anybody have more information on this event?
Rhett Bourland
www.asteroidmodels.com
www.asteroidmodels.com\personal

http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=NATIONAL&STORYID=APIS7DE
D8D80

Meteor Shower Lights Northeast Sky

People throughout the Northeast flooded emergency centers with phone calls
Monday evening after seeing bright lights in the sky and hearing loud
noises. The likely cause was a meteor shower, authorities said.

Sightings were reported from Virginia to New York.

``We originally got a report of a plane crash and now it seems there were
multiple meteors coming down,'' said supervisor Tara Dolzani of the
Schuylkill County communications center in Pottsville, Pa.

In Buffalo, N.Y., National Weather Service observers received reports of a
bright meteor in the western and southern regions of the state.

``We got our first call at about 6:25,'' meteorologist Dave Sage said.
``Then the calls just started coming in.''

Some people reported explosions or thunder, and felt their homes shake. In
Montoursville, Pa., there was a report of a ``big red ball'' in the sky and
broken windows from a sonic boom, a state police dispatcher said.

Alexander Wolszczan, an astronomy professor at Pennsylvania State
University, said that the thunder or shaking that people felt could have
resulted from a sound wave produced by a meteor exploding in the earth's
atmosphere.

Normally, a meteor shower is a silent event, he said. But large meteors can
create concussive sound waves, or even hit the earth.

Often, meteors are composed of rock hundreds of feet in diameter before
burning up in the atmosphere, he said.
Received on Mon 23 Jul 2001 10:32:18 PM PDT