Paper: Boston Evening Transcript City: Boston, Mass. Date: Monday Evening, August 15, 1859 Page: 1 TREMENDOUS EXPLOSION - A METEOR OR AN EARTHQUAKE. The Troy (N.Y.) Times of Thursdat last has the following account of a most remarkable explosion, which was heard for many miles. At about 7 o'clockm while the sky was pertectly cloudless, while hardly a breath of air was stirring, while not a single indication prevailed of a natural commotion of any sort whatever, there was a terrific, shocking, deafening report, accompanied apparently by two sharp echoes. It was if the sound had come from the sky; but there were no clouds, not a single indication of the prevalence of electricity, and they explanation could not be entertained. The force of the concussion was so great that houses were shaken; that persons walking in the street felt the ground vibrate underneath them: that men who had just commenced work upon buildings, instinctively dropped their tools, and looked about to see what was the matter; that little children were frightened, and asked many questions of their parents. John P. Hall, County Clerk, assures us that the noise heard was the result of an explosion of a meteor in the sky. Mr. Ball resides in Pittstown, in this county, and is a perfectly honorable and reliable gentleman. He informs us that he had just finished breakfast, and was standing in his door-yard when he observed a bright light the southernly direction from his house over the town of Grafton, and descending very rapidly to the ground in a northwesterly course. This was about 7:20 A.M. Mr. Hall last saw it when about a mile above the earth, when it disappeared, and in a moment or more he heard the explosion. It was very loud and resembled thunder. He had previously called his family to view the meteor, and they all observed the light and heard the explosion. Mrs. Hall insists that there were three seperate explosions - one much louder than the others - and in support of her statement, Mr. Hall says he saw three distinct clouds of smoke in the track of the meteor, which appeared to a mile or more apart. The smoke was visible for some time, but was finally lost to sight. The meteor appeared to be at a distance of about twenty miles from Mr. Hall's residence, and looked like a large size sky rocket. It has never been settled that a meteor does explode, we believe. If it does, we fail to see by what possibility it could produce three reports; such bodies are not generally charged on the revolver principle. But if a meteor could explode, and cause three reports, our readers can judge as well as we can what must have been the immensity of the volume and the forces of the explosion, to make those reports distinctly audible for a distance of fourty or fifty miles in any direction. We have a lively recollectionof the Oswego meteor hoax. It would have required a larger stone than that was represented to have been because this phenomenon. We confess we are puzzled. We incline to the opinion that this section of country has experienced a slight shock of earthquake. A gentleman from Venezuela, where such occurances are common says that this was his immediate conclusion. In every way, according to his opinion, the shock resembled that produced by an earthquake. The Albany Argus of August 13 says: We are inclined to think that is was a gentle earthquake. Although we cannot learn that is was in this city, w ehave been assured by two or three subscribers from the towns of Guilderland and New Scotland, who were in our counting-roon yesterday, that the same phenomenon was experienced in those vicinities soon after 7 o'clock Thursday mourning. The heavy rumbling sound and vibration of the earth continued, they say, for two or three minutes, proceeding from the southwest and dying away in the northeast. When they gave us this information they were ignorant that any such thing had been experienced anywhere else. The Pittsburgg (Mass.) Eagle says: A vilolent shock of some great explosion of gunpowder was heard in this town, Great Barrington, and Albany, at about 7 1/2 o'clock this morning. We have a report from a couple of Shakers - generally good authority - that at the time of this sound, a meteor, seeming to them a ball of fire, about the size of a lour barrel, passed across the country and exploded in the northwest, which was the quarter from which the sound seemed to come.
Mark Note: This is a newspaper account of the Bethlehem meteorite. Noted as having fallen 730am, in Albany County, NY. Only one stone was recovered at the weight of only around 13 grams. Classified as an H chondrite. It appears that the stone was recovered shortly after it fell as the Troy newspaper account above notes "It would have required a larger stone than that was represented to have been because this phenomenon." Also after reading this paper I am more inclined to believe, Hall's account of the fall at around 7:20am, rather then the usual published account of 7:30am.
ARN's History of Meteorites notes: a small stone about the size of a pigeon's egg was seen to fall.Please visit, www.MeteoriteArticles.com, a free on-line archive of meteor and meteorite articles. |
