I think that was still in the era of photographic espionage satellites (those that ejected film cannisters for reentry and subsequent recovery). If eyewitness accounts have any credibility at all, the description of one of the objects recovered by military personnel at the impact site (a large, silvery, acorn-shaped object) almost perfectly describes a "ballute" (an inflatable deceleration device developed for the stabilization of smaller reentry vehicles).
If the stories of the rather aggressive military response to this event are true, I would bet what you saw was a returning film cannister from a spy satellite (ours or "theirs") that missed its intended target (ocean or steppes). Either way, our "people" wanted it. Mark > I witnessed the "Kecksburg Bolide" when I was a kid growing up in Ohio. > It was the first real bolide I ever witnessed, and those that I have > seen after that have looked pretty similar. It was known as the > "Tri-State Meteorite" the day after the event, and was seen in actually > 4 states (OH,PA,IND and Western NY) and parts of Canada. This is a > report I published a long time ago before there was any real web, it was > on AOL, and then got picked up on web sites after that. I suppose a > re-entry vehicle that had a parachute failure could actually look like > this, but I doubt it was anything more than a giant meteorite. The > strange part of this is that it would have to have been a very high > altitude explosion, to have a pieces fall in different states. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > --- > > from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Dec. 9, 1965 > > As a kid, I was pumping gas into a car at a SOHIO gas station, on > Clifton Blvd, Rocky River Ohio. It was in the afternoon, about 4 or 5PM. > All of a sudden everything got bright, like a flashbulb went off. I > remember looking at the bumper of the car that I was pumping the gas > into, and I could see the reflection of this blinding bright light. As i > turned to look up, it had just passed and there was another flash, and I > could see that whatever it was had split into 2 or 3 pieces. The smoke > trail in the sky looked like a pitch-fork, like a handle of luminecent > smoke, then 3 prongs that pointed toward the south. The next day, i > remember reading the Cleveland Plain Dealer article about the "Tri-State > Meteor" observed by hundreds of people. I never knew about the > connection with the Kecksburg incident until reading about it on the > web! Neat, eh? > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Francis > Graham > Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2003 9:29 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [meteorite-list] Sci Fi Channel Sues Air Force > > Dear List, > Let me begin by stating: I do not, repeat, do not > think that UFOs are piloted alien spaceships and I do > not think there is much good evidence for that > opinion. In any case, science demands a type specimen > for a new life form and ufology has yet to deliver. > Having said that, have you guys noticed that sputnik > fragments were collected in the late 1950's and early > 1960's on the ground, and after Skylab in 1979, but > there are very few fragments (if any) from in-between > years? > This is because, I tentatively assert (which is a > way of saying this is wild speculation), the US > government was collecting pieces of Soviet spacecraft > secretly, in violation of the Outer Space Treaty the > US signed(which requires return) for the purpose of > study of Soviet technology. > Kecksburg is an example. The thing as sketched > looks like some sort of re-entry vehicle. The "alien > writing" might well have been Russian characters. Jim > Oberg was the first to advance this hypothesis > regarding Kecksburg. > Something was loaded on that flatbed and whisked > away, and it likely was a Soviet satellite. Unless you > believe the official line that it was a meteorite. Any > of you got any Kecksburg for sale? > > Francis Graham > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search > http://shopping.yahoo.com > > ______________________________________________ > Meteorite-list mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > > > > ______________________________________________ > Meteorite-list mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > -- CoreComm Webmail. http://home.core.com -- CoreComm Webmail. http://home.core.com
I think that was still in the era of photographic espionage satellites (those that ejected film cannisters for reentry and subsequent recovery). If eyewitness accounts have any credibility at all, the description of one of the objects recovered by military personnel at the impact site (a large, silvery, acorn-shaped object) almost perfectly describes a "ballute" (an inflatable deceleration device developed for the stabilization of smaller reentry vehicles). If the stories of the rather aggressive military response to this event are true, I would bet what you saw was a returning film cannister from a spy satellite (ours or "theirs") that missed its intended target (ocean or steppes). Either way, our "people" wanted it. Mark > I witnessed the "Kecksburg Bolide" when I was a kid growing up in Ohio. > It was the first real bolide I ever witnessed, and those that I have > seen after that have looked pretty similar. It was known as the > "Tri-State Meteorite" the day after the event, and was seen in actually > 4 states (OH,PA,IND and Western NY) and parts of Canada. This is a > report I published a long time ago before there was any real web, it was > on AOL, and then got picked up on web sites after that. I suppose a > re-entry vehicle that had a parachute failure could actually look like > this, but I doubt it was anything more than a giant meteorite. The > strange part of this is that it would have to have been a very high > altitude explosion, to have a pieces fall in different states. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > --- > > from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Dec. 9, 1965 > > As a kid, I was pumping gas into a car at a SOHIO gas station, on > Clifton Blvd, Rocky River Ohio. It was in the afternoon, about 4 or 5PM. > All of a sudden everything got bright, like a flashbulb went off. I > remember looking at the bumper of the car that I was pumping the gas > into, and I could see the reflection of this blinding bright light. As i > turned to look up, it had just passed and there was another flash, and I > could see that whatever it was had split into 2 or 3 pieces. The smoke > trail in the sky looked like a pitch-fork, like a handle of luminecent > smoke, then 3 prongs that pointed toward the south. The next day, i > remember reading the Cleveland Plain Dealer article about the "Tri-State > Meteor" observed by hundreds of people. I never knew about the > connection with the Kecksburg incident until reading about it on the > web! Neat, eh? > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Francis > Graham > Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2003 9:29 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [meteorite-list] Sci Fi Channel Sues Air Force > > Dear List, > Let me begin by stating: I do not, repeat, do not > think that UFOs are piloted alien spaceships and I do > not think there is much good evidence for that > opinion. In any case, science demands a type specimen > for a new life form and ufology has yet to deliver. > Having said that, have you guys noticed that sputnik > fragments were collected in the late 1950's and early > 1960's on the ground, and after Skylab in 1979, but > there are very few fragments (if any) from in-between > years? > This is because, I tentatively assert (which is a > way of saying this is wild speculation), the US > government was collecting pieces of Soviet spacecraft > secretly, in violation of the Outer Space Treaty the > US signed(which requires return) for the purpose of > study of Soviet technology. > Kecksburg is an example. The thing as sketched > looks like some sort of re-entry vehicle. The "alien > writing" might well have been Russian characters. Jim > Oberg was the first to advance this hypothesis > regarding Kecksburg. > Something was loaded on that flatbed and whisked > away, and it likely was a Soviet satellite. Unless you > believe the official line that it was a meteorite. Any > of you got any Kecksburg for sale? > > Francis Graham > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search > http://shopping.yahoo.com > > ______________________________________________ > Meteorite-list mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > > > > ______________________________________________ > Meteorite-list mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > -- CoreComm Webmail. http://home.core.com
