Is this similar to the Elma incident? Elma intrigues me. It looks like sand or particulate material having been fused. Perhaps was sucked up by a dust devil or other storm wind and electrical discharge in the atmosphere fused it like glass? Anyway.. is this Iranian material considered a geometeorite also?
Rosie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron Baalke" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Meteorite Mailing List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2004 11:38 AM Subject: [meteorite-list] Iranian Fireball Was Of Geophysical Origin > > > http://www.nojum.net/news/newse.asp?newsid=34 > > PRESS-RELEASE: Feb 8, 2004 > CONTACTS: Mr. Pouria Nazemi, > Tel: +98 (021) 827 0029 > E mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > INTERNATIONAL GROUP OF EXPERTS COMES TO CONCLUSION THAT THE FIREBALL > FALLEN ON THE IRANIAN TOWN OF BABOL ON JANUARY 2, 2004 WAS NOT A METEORITE, > BUT WAS OF GEOPHYSICAL ORIGIN > > On January 2, 2004 a report appeared about a meteorite fall on the town > of Babol, Iran. A group of Iranian experts associated with Nojum (Astronomy) > magazine began to investigate. The group consisted of Mr. Pouria Nazemi, who > has a large expertise in seeking scientific news and contacted many > organizations to collect more information and also a science journalist > (Mathematics BSc.), Miss Mohaddesseh Azimlu who was looking for physical > explanation for such events since the previous one in some months ago > (Physics Ms.) > > Mr. Iman Naderi, a serious amateur astronomer who didn't miss a moment to > reach the place and make early report and photos, Mr. Siavash Safarianpour > who organizes a daily live TV program in popular astronomy and Mr. Oshin > Zakarian, a nature and night sky photographer. > > Witnesses reported that the event started with seismic, and sound phenomena, > which were followed by unordinary light inside house and explosion with a > loud sound and ended by falling of a fireball which threw out sparks and was > described as a " suspended lightning "about 2 meters in diameter and > disappeared spontaneously. The boy who came out first and saw the ball had > burnt his face, but nobody else was hurt. > > Despite that the investigation continues, already now it is possible to > state that the event had nothing to do with a fall of an extraterrestrial > body, and evidently was of geophysical origin. > > Investigation of damage in the town caused by the event reveals that a > house, which was in the epicenter of the explosion, was badly damaged by the > explosion, and many houses within several hundred meters from it have some > minor damage. No traces of meteorite or any other object fallen were > discovered. The damage of the house partly was as caused by some energy > source inside the house, while possibility of a gas explosion etc. can be > excluded. > > After coming to conclusion that the event was caused neither by a > meteorite, nor by any known made object, the Iranian experts contacted > Dr. Andrei Ol'khovatov from Moscow, Russia. > > He has a special web-page ( http://olkhov.narod.ru/gr1997.htm ) , devoted to > similar unexplained fireball falls, which have nothing to do with meteorite > falls, but are of geophysical origin. Dr. Ol'khovatov prefers to call them > geophysical meteors or just geometeors. According to him, these events are > poorly known, and little plausible physical mechanism was proposed for them > yet, but observational data points that geometeors in many aspects resemble > an energetic high-speed "ball-lightning". Anyway, a statistical analysis > conducted by Dr. Ol'khovatov revealed that geometeors have a tendency to > occur in some special geophysical situations. > > So Dr. Ol'khovatov has joined the group of Iranian researchers in > investigation of the Babol event. One of the tasks was to check whether > geophysical situation of the Babol event was favorable for geometeors, > especially in an aspect of cloudiness development in the region. It was > checked through satellite meteorological diagrams and however it didn't show > any cloud in the region, but starting changes in weather condition. > > The Babol fireball was neither the first nor the last one in Iran. Some > months ago Nojum received a report about observing a fire ball on May 23, > 2003 in Marzanabad, in North of Iran. It was in a rainy evening and big > thunders occurred continuously. Witnesses saw a high speed fireball hit two > old big trees, broke them with a very loud sound and continued its way. The > electricity broke in village for a few hours. > > On January 21, 2004 another fireball came to visit an Iranian village in > North West, near MeshkinShahr in Ardabil state. It was again a stormy night > that a white fireball, bigger than full moon appeared in the sky and after > few minutes disappeared. Simultaneously electricity broke in the whole area > for several hours and a house was damaged. A part of roof covering was > disappeared and a wall and door was broken with a loud sound. > > As both these two events have happened in stormy weather with thunders and > lightning, investigators come to conclude that they should be ordinary "ball > lightnings" that may be produced in such conditions. During natural > lightning a part of air molecules become ionized (which is called plasma) > and shine as a flash in a moment and come back to ordinary state (we saw it > as the path of lightning); but in rarely conditions that we still don't know > completely this plasma is caught in a ball shape and if hits anything may > release a lot of energy like a lightning with same loud sound and > destruction. We know very little about natural ball lightnings, but can make > them artificially in very small size in laboratory. > > Anyway, the investigation continues, as those events and specially that one > in Babol gives a rare possibility to get a lot of data about such poorly > known meteorological or geophysical phenomena. > > Group members are also waiting for your reports about any similar > observations at [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > ______________________________________________ > 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
