http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,9158323%255E3102,00.html
Great ball of fire! No April Fool's joke Louise Crossen and Peter Morley The Courier-Mail (Australia) April 2, 2004 AUTHORITIES are still in the dark about a mysterious fireball that appeared over Winton on Wednesday night - although some sceptics are claiming the spectacular light show was an early April Fool's Day joke. Winton Mayor Bruce Collins said a few tall tales were already doing the rounds. "Everyone has got a story about where they were when it happened, and there have been people who thought the whole thing was just an April Fool's Day joke," Cr Collins said. "But I saw the tail end of it myself, and it was real all right." Resident Neal Elliot said he had been walking when "a ball of fire fell out of the sky" about 7pm. "A young girl came running out from one of the houses, her face all white and her eyes popping out of her head. Everyone came spilling on to the street, just looking up at the sky. "I knew it was something from outer space - it was just unreal." Winton police sergeant Wayne Lynn said an explosion rocked the town minutes after the light display. "We thought the world was coming to an end," Sgt Lynn said. Winton sheep grazier P.J. Elliott said his mouth was so wide that "if a plain turkey flew into it the bird would go straight down without touching the sides". "Whatever it was, it scared the living daylights out of me, " Mr Elliott, 30, said. "I was so shaken I thought about tying dogs to my bedroom door that night. "But they might not have been much help. When I saw the fireball I was about 11/2km from home and I could hear those mutts howling in a most peculiar way." There was speculation the mysterious light display was caused by a piece of space junk, but University of Queensland astrophysics lecturer Dr Michael Drinkwater said it was more likely to have been a fast-moving meteor. "This is what we call a fireball - basically a small meteor moving at thousands of kilometres an hour," he said. "The bright head, red glow and vapor trail are typical of a rocky meteor." He said the explosion heard by locals was likely to be a sonic boom - a series of shockwaves caused by the enormous speed of the meteor. "The noise doesn't indicate it hit anything - it probably burnt up in the atmosphere," Dr Drinkwater said. ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
