[meteorite-list] Big Fireball Seen Over Canada

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:07:02 2004
Message-ID: <200210202158.OAA05774_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.canada.com/news/story.asp?id=%7B639ED843-C8CA-4B3B-85EF-9C33D29E89A1%7D

Big red fireball awes Winnipeg driver, spectacle likely comet chunk or debris
Canadian Press
October 20, 2002

WINNIPEG (CP) - Stanley Sladek said he could not believe his eyes when a
big red fireball moved across the night sky as he was driving down a city
street with his girlfriend early Saturday morning.

"It would be hard to believe if someone was telling me this, but that's what
we saw," he said. Sladek described the fireball as dark pink on the
outside and a lighter colour toward the centre.

"The people that were beside us, they honked their horn just for a sec to
get our attention, and they were doing hand gestures."

The fireball appeared to be travelling toward the southeast before it
dropped an egg-shaped white light, broke in two and faded away shortly
after 1 a.m., Sladek said.

"An airplane would not move that fast."

Astronomer and UFO expert Chris Rutkowski said the fireball was probably a
chunk of comet or satellite debris burning up as it entered the Earth's
atmosphere.

Often green or blue, the fireballs are known as bolides. Rutkowski said
they appear over Winnipeg at least two or three times a year.

In the fall, the Earth passes through a number of meteor showers, he said.
The bolide was likely hundreds of kilometres away.
Received on Sun 20 Oct 2002 05:58:24 PM PDT