[meteorite-list] Feb 9 Meteor Reports

From: Rick Nowak <internationalmeteoritesociety_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:50:24 2004
Message-ID: <20020406033755.92948.qmail_at_web21010.mail.yahoo.com>

Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 13:43:54 -0500 (EST)
 
From: "Judy Young" <young_at_fcrao1.astro.umass.edu> |
Block Address | Add to Address Book
 
To: doug_at_trevallion.com, Erobertg@aol.com,
internationalmeteoritesociety_at_yahoo.com,
lmlucey_at_library.umass.edu, patrowan@aol.com,
PLUGTHATNICKLE_at_cs.com, ROBERT.D.MATSON@saic.com,
the_woodsman_at_prodigy.net, young@astro.umass.edu
 
Subject: Feb. 9 Meteor Reports
 
         
 


Dear Friends,

Each of you contacted me with a report or interest in
reports of
the Feb. 9, 2002 fireball and sonic boom. I have put
together all
of the e-mail reports I received, and in the next few
days I will
add several messages from folks who phoned in their
reports. Below,
I have copied the e-mail I received -- I have included
names and
e-mail addresses in this compliation so that those who
are interested
in recovering meteorites can follow up on the reports,
and so anyone
hearing of more information will know who to send it
to.

Thank you all for your patience.

Sincerely,
Judy Young

                ***********************************
                * Dr. Judith S. Young *
                * Professor, Dept. of Astronomy *
                * 620 GRC Tower B *
                * University of Massachusetts *
                * Amherst, MA 01003 *
                * *
                * 413-545-4311 (voice) *
                * 413-545-4223 (FAX) *
                * young_at_astro.umass.edu *
                * http://www.umass.edu/sunwheel *
                ***********************************

"If we want to solve a problem that we have never
solved before,
we must leave the door to the unknown ajar."

                                Richard Feynman

________________________________________________

Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2002 09:53:47 -0500 (EST)
From: Lucinda M Lucey <lmlucey_at_library.umass.edu>
Subject: Meteorite on Sat. Feb. 9 (approx. 2:10 p.m.?)
To: young_at_astro.umass.edu

Hi Ms. Young,
        I saw an article in the Union News that quoted
you as saying
you
could figure out where the meteorite landed if you got
reports from
three
people who could remember where they were when they
saw it.
        I was standing near the beginning of Kestrel
Lane in Amherst
facing north (in front of the first house on the
right). I looked up
and
something glowing red-orange and travelling very fast
went directly
over
the house. I think it was going East to West, or
southeast to
northwest. A
few minutes later we heard the sonic boom.
        I wouldn't have seen it except I am a bird
watcher and I always
check the big oak trees that stand in front of this
house.
        If you find out where it landed let me know.
Thanks

                                Lucinda Lucey
                                Senior Cataloging
Assistant
                                Cataloging Dept.
                                W.E.B. Du Bois Library
                                University of
Massachusetts Amherst
                                Amherst, MA 01003
                                (413) 545-2728
                               
lmlucey_at_library.umass.edu
_______________________________________________

Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2002 14:45:37 -0500 (EST)
From: Lucinda M Lucey <lmlucey_at_library.umass.edu>
Subject: Re: Meteorite on Sat. Feb. 9 (approx. 2:10
p.m.?)
To: Judy Young <young_at_fcrao1.astro.umass.edu>

Hi Judy,
        FYI someone named Bob G posted this message to
the
www.masslive.com/forums/newswatch Newsforum:
From: Bob G <Erobertg_at_aol.com>
I was driving north on Rt 32 about six miles south of
Stafford Springs, CT when I saw a very bright object
dart across the sky. The object came from behind and
appeared headed in NNW direction. It appeared to just
burn up before it reached the horizon.

        Cindy Spell in my office here saw it too but
she was in the
same
general area as I was (within 1/4 mile) so probably
that isn't much
help.

                                        Lucinda

_______________________________________________

Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2002 18:59:57 -0500
From: Dick Cooper <the_woodsman_at_prodigy.net>
Subject: Meteor?
To: young_at_astro.umass.edu

Dear Ms. Young: I read your name on line in a news
story about an
alleged
meteor. I'm not sure if anyone is interested in
following up the
stories
about the incident, but if so, here's mine.
I was walking northward on what is commonly referred
to as 'The Rabbit
Run' (Gate-35, Quabbin) Sunday, Feb. 10, 2002. (The
Rabbit Run is an
old
rail bed running adjacent to the water in the New
Salem section of
Quabbin.)
At 2:15 p.m., a brief silvery flash of motion to the
northwest caught
my
eye. I could not tell the height but it appeared to be
moving east to
west passing over Moore Island very fast. I only saw
it for a second.
At
first I thought it was a pair of Mergansers briefly
caught in the
afternoon sun, but it actually looked like two
separate bright slivery
spiraled objects close together in the shape of those
old fashioned
metallic spirals that were hung on Christmas trees. I
remember just
saying, Hmmm? Exactly two minutes later I heard this
loud BOOM! It came
from the direction of North Orange, approx. 1/2 mile
to the north north
west of me. I knew I'd heard that sound before, and it
came to me that
as
a kid (I'm 67) I recalled hearing that identical sound
many times.
There
was no mistaking it. It was a sonic boom. That's
what I witnessed for what it's worth? ~Dick Cooper,
Athol, MA

_______________________________________________

From: doug_at_trevallion.com
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2002 20:48:12 -0800
Subject: The Flying Meteor
To: young_at_astro.umass.edu

Hi Judy, my name is Mckenzie Trevallion. I am 7
years old. My dad
and
I saw the meteor while we were playing basketball. I
pointed it out to
him. We heard and felt the boom. We did not see it
land. It was the
size
of my basketball from our driveway. I think it is
bigger than it looked
in
the sky. It went over our neighbors house in Agawam. I
hope you can
find
it and if you can, put a picture in the internet so we
can see it. If
I
can help my phone number is 8211358. Thank you.

**ANSWER**

From: Judy Young [mailto:young_at_fcrao1.astro.umass.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2002 8:06 AM
To: doug_at_trevallion.com
Subject: Re: The Flying Meteor


Dear Mckenzie Trevallion,

Thank you for the message about the meteor.

I have a question for you which I hope you can answer:
Can you tell me what direction you were facing when
you saw
the meteor go over your neighbor's house ? Can you
tell me how
high the meteor was in the sky ? The more accurate
your
estimates the more likely I will be able to locate the
general
area where the meteor went down.
Judy Young

**REPLY**

From: doug_at_trevallion.com
To: "Judy Young" <young_at_fcrao1.astro.umass.edu>
Subject: RE: The Flying Meteor
Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2002 10:48:26 -0800

Hi Judy thank you for writing back. Sorry for taking
so long to write.
My
dad had to find his compass. He says we were facing
North. He says we
think the meteor was going 30-40 degrees North West.
We think it was
1/2
mile away and 1/2 mile up in the sky.

We have a friend who saw it at the Agawam High School.
My dad wants to
ask
her where she was standing.

My Dad guesses it could have landed in Robinson State
Park. Maybe that
is
why no one saw it land.

Does this help?

Thank You.

Mckenzie.

**ANOTHER**

From: doug_at_trevallion.com
To: "Judy Young" <young_at_fcrao1.astro.umass.edu>
Subject: RE: The Flying Meteor
Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2002 16:12:30 -0800

Hi Judy the lady that I was talking about, her name is
Lory. She saw it
when she was recycling bottles with 8 friends in
Feeding Hills at a
fund
raiser. She saw it at 2:15 just like us. She said it
was directly above
her head. It looked like a flash to her. Lory said it
was very low.

We went to where Lory was standing and marked our map.
We connected the
dots between our house on Coventry Lane and Feeding
Hills Stop and
Shop.
It looks like it went to a place called Johnson Corner
or the Agawam
Country Club.

Does this help?

Thank you from Mckenzie

**ANOTHER**

From: doug_at_trevallion.com
To: "Judy Young" <young_at_fcrao1.astro.umass.edu>
Subject: RE: The Flying Meteor
Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2002 16:48:40 -0800

Hi Judy my Dad has another clue. It was not coming
down from the sky.
He
said we saw it go sideways and it was low. Lory saw it
go sideways too
and
it was very low. If it landed going so sideways it
would roll and no
one
would feel the boom.

We drove along a big mountain out there and my Dad
said maybe it was
felt
in a few states because it bumped into the mountain
that runs up and
down
for a long way.

Thank You

Mckenzie

_______________________________________________

Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 20:07:10 -0800 (PST)
From: Rick Nowak
<internationalmeteoritesociety_at_yahoo.com>
Subject: Meteor 2/9/02
To: young_at_astro.umass.edu

Hello

We are attempting to find out where the meteor of
2/9/02 landed and if possible make a meteorite
recovery. Do you have any information that can help us
etc. ? Thank You Rick Nowak VP

_______________________________________________

Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 16:44:19 -0800
From: "Matson, Robert" <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_saic.com>
Subject: Western Mass. 2/9/2002 bolide
To: "'Dr. Judith Young'" <young_at_astro.umass.edu>

Greetings Dr. Young,

I read your name mentioned in several newspaper
articles covering
the probable bolide of Saturday, Feb. 9th over western
Massachusetts.
While I realize that you are not an eye-witness to the
event, the
stories
indicate that you did at least hear/feel the sonic
boom associated with
the bolide's passage.

My name is Rob Matson. As an astronomer you might
have heard
of me in conjunction with manmade satellite reentry
prediction, or
other amateur satellite visual observation projects --
in particular
the prediction of glints from Iridium and other
satellites. I also do
meteorite recovery work (primarily in the Mojave
Desert), which is
my reason for contacting you.

Witness reports so far suggest that the meteor
observed/heard on
Saturday afternoon was likely to have produced a
number of meteorites
that survived atmospheric reentry. I probably don't
have to tell you
that the number of times that meteorites have been
successfully

recovered from witnessed falls is unfortunately quite
low. But when
they are (as in the case of Peekskill, New York and
the more recent
Tagish Lake), they can provide valuable information
about asteroid
families since a preatmospheric trajectory can usually
be estimated
from observers' reports and the meteorite recovery
coordinates.
Expeditious recovery is also important from a
terrestrial weathering
and sample contamination standpoint.

I was part of a team that did a fair amount of work
trying to recover
meteorites from the Pennsylvania bolide that came in
July 23rd last
year. Unfortunately, the likely impact point was
remote, and heavily
forested, hampering a successful recovery. The
situation looks better
for Saturday's bolide: the terrain is more
manageable, and there is
a greater likelihood of witnesses in the critical
final stages since
the
area is more populated, and it occurred on a Saturday
afternoon
(rather than a weekday) when more people would be
likely to see it.

So (finally!) getting to the point, I'm writing to ask
if you have any
more
detailed information about visual reports -- in
particular, directional
information. Only one report I've read gave any
useful data w.r.t.
sky location and direction of motion, and he was very
far from
the reentry location. I realize that newspapers have
space
limitations,
so much information pertinent to recovery efforts was
probably excluded
from AP wire stories, and articles that appeared in
the Berkshire
Eagle.

I would welcome any additional information you might
have --
particularly
reports from Amherst, Northampton, Hatfield, and
especially Pittsfield.
Even vague reports such as "the meteor moved from
right to left" or
"I saw it briefly in the southwest" would help narrow
down the
trajectory.

Thanks so much for your time,

Rob Matson
Sr. Staff Scientist, SAIC
Seal Beach, CA
matsonr_at_saic.com
(562) 594-7398 (wk)
(562) 708-1278 (cell)
(949) 464-0578 (hm)

______________________________________________

From: PLUGTHATNICKLE_at_cs.com
Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2002 15:07:41 -0500 (EST)
Subject: sky 2/9/02
To: young_at_astro.umass.edu

i heard, and saw the 'meteor' . the only other info i
 could get is
from
the spfld papers, which is where i found your name. i
was watching my
14
yr old son hollow out a large tree in the woods in
wilbraham, near the
hamden/monson borders when i saw a white streak with a
head falling
down,
N to NNW. it was like a reverse firework; i
immediately told my son
and
checked my watch. 2:12. we both heard the low loud
noise. i heard
BOOMboomboom. this was 2:17. why would there be a 5
min. gap ? if you
could answer this question or give me any other info
on this phenomena
i
would be very appreciative.

thanks, steve hall wilbraham ma PS UMASS attendee
1974

______________________________________________

PHONE CALLS :

1) Pat Rowan (Springfield Union News) -- wants more
info. I suggested
running a request in the paper. He may have more
information.

        patrowan_at_aol.com




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Received on Fri 05 Apr 2002 10:37:55 PM PST