[meteorite-list] Bright Object Seen Streaking Across California Sky

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 14:35:31 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <200801032235.OAA13603_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.redding.com/news/2008/jan/03/ufo-sighting-firemen-go/

UFO sighting? Firemen go toward the light
By Kimberly Ross
Redding Record Searchlight
January 3, 2008

A Christmas Eve flash in the sky over northeastern Shasta County has
some speculating about reindeer on fire or season's greetings from
little green men.

But the celestial light show was probably just a meteorite, said Fall
River Mills firefighter Quincy Hatch.

Hatch and other firefighters were driving east on Highway 299, east of
McArthur, to check on smoke from three burn piles reportedly on the Big
Valley summit. On their way, Chief Chuck Bethel and others spotted a
bright light and an object streaking across the sky about 7:40 p.m.,
Hatch said.

"At first, we thought it might be an airplane that went down," he said.

Hatch, also an amateur astronomer, saw the huge flash that lasted three
to five seconds, but said he didn't look in time to spot a streaking
object in the sky, gone in just a second or two.

"We had one of the locals up on the ridge drive up in his pickup and ask
us if we were searching for the aliens yet," Hatch said with a chuckle.

They weren't the only ones who saw the light.

As his Burney office co-workers ribbed him with alien greetings of
"Nanu-nanu" and Twilight Zone theme music, Shasta County Sheriff's
deputy Jesse Gunsauls grudgingly admitted that he'd seen a large,
"greenish light" coming toward the ground.

It surprised him as he drove on Highway 299, on the east side of Hatchet
Mountain, but "it wasn't like it was flying around or anything,"
Gunsauls said.

"It didn't look like a shooting star," he said, and clarified: "Do I
think it was aliens -- no."

Sgt. Anthony Bertain had been driving behind Gunsauls and saw the flash,
too. Gunsauls said he guesses it was a meteor, and NASA spokeswoman
Dolores Beasley said that conclusion "makes sense."

Still, that didn't stop Gunsauls' colleagues from teasing that he must
have witnessed Rudolph's nose malfunctioning.

Gunsauls said he had heard the possible meteorite sparked a spot fire,
but Lassen County forestry and fire officials said they had no record of
that.

Two California Highway Patrol officers and some other residents also
reported seeing the flash, Hatch said.

The Record Searchlight received an anonymous call that some celestial
debris had fallen near the Hat Creek Observatory, where scientists are
monitoring for signals of extraterrestrial life.

But onsite astronomer Rick Forster said the SETI (Search for
Extraterrestrial Intelligence) program there searches for radio waves
from deep space, not visual images close to Earth. Those wouldn't be
picked up by its equipment.

Nevertheless, Forster gets similar reports of objects that are more
likely airplanes, planets or twinkling stars, not aliens, he said.

"It's neat to imagine that that happened and that they're here already,
but we take a little more objective stance to the existence of
extraterrestrials," he said.

Forster's not jaded to those callers, though.

"I keep hoping that I will witness firsthand what people are reporting,
because they sound fascinating."
Received on Thu 03 Jan 2008 05:35:31 PM PST