Rex and List,
That's an interesting point Rex. I have seen that effect. One of my theories about Park Forest had been that it may have been a multi-stage breakup followed by a detonating main mass. Once breakoff pieces separate, they immediately lose energy to the process of seeking aerodynamic equilibrium, thus falling behind the main mass. When the main mass detonates and sends out an omnidirectional shockwave, the followon breakoff fragments collide with the shockwave causing them to be redirected. This would quite nearly mimic the effect you are describing.
Rob Matson has programmed re-entry software that he attempted to apply to the PF event to see if he could come close to predicting the SF pattern. He was able to nail it right on by entering the upper level winds into the scenario along with approximated initial mass and cosmic velocities. I was convinced by that analysis of how much winds could bend SF patterns. I would like to play around with such a program to gauge the differences made by changes in those parameters.
Mark Jackson
Chaosity Meteoritics
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