[meteorite-list] HUGE Meteor Sighting in Cottonwood AZ - Stats from fall

From: Chris Peterson <clp_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 09:18:18 -0600
Message-ID: <534BFC3A.4030200_at_alumni.caltech.edu>

Ground level sonics are a very good indicator that meteorites were
produced. However, the absence of sonics doesn't argue against
meteorites at all.

In all likelihood, the majority of meteorite falls are not preceded with
either a significant fireball nor any acoustics. We are subject to a
very strong observation bias because those tend to be the only sort of
events where we can actually correlate meteors to meteorites. And of
course, such meteorites represent only a tiny fraction of the total.

Regardless of any other factors, fireballs that display either a massive
terminal explosion or multiple fragmentation events along their paths
warrant close examination as potential meteorite producers.

Chris

*******************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

On 4/13/2014 4:47 PM, Jim Wooddell wrote:
> Hi Shawn, This is a fairly normal event. Nothing much to get excited
> about. The calculation is an error. If the 40.8km is the burn out I
> doubt anyone will waste much time on this one.
> No sonic reports to speak of and that is also not a good sign. The UT is
> questionable too!
>
> Jim
Received on Mon 14 Apr 2014 11:18:18 AM PDT