NORAD was way off the mark on this one. Fortunately, the release was
based on a report from one eyewitness, not any sort of instrumentation
(or I'd be worried about our national security <g>).
Actually, the fireball was over western Colorado, and unrelated to the
Lyrids. Details are here:
http://www.cloudbait.com/science/fireball20070420.html .
Big, slow, shallow, and low- an excellent candidate for producing
meteorites, maybe 10 kg or more. Unfortunately, this is where you have
to hunt:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&om=1&z=10&ll=39.682883,-108.462524&spn=0.872973,0.86792&t=h
Good luck!
Chris
*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Baalke" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Meteorite Mailing List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2007 4:43 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Witnesses,NORAD Think Meteorite Was Green
Object Seen Over Colorado
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=15920
Witnesses, NORAD think meteorite was green object seen over Colorado
By Trevor Hughes
The Daily Times-Call (Colorado)
April 22, 2007
LONGMONT - Area residents who were lucky enough to be looking at the
sky
late Friday night are still in awe over a greenish-red fireball they
saw
zoom past.
The object, likely a meteorite associated with the Lyrid meteor
shower,
was witnessed up and down the Front Range, according to officials.
They
said it apparently landed somewhere near the Air Force Academy near
Colorado Springs.
"Asteroids ... because they are not in a normal orbit, we take note of
it," said Capt. Tim Lundberg of NORAD U.S. NorthCom, the
Colorado-based
federal agency that tracks airborne objects. "These things are usually
moving fast enough they impact themselves in the ground."
Several Longmont-area witnesses said they thought the object looked
like
it landed north of Boulder or somewhere in the mountains near Estes
Park.
"I would have sworn it landed here," said Berthoud resident Janet
Blair,
who was looking at the sky at just the right time, about 11:08 p.m.
"It
was fabulous. I've never seen anything like it. It was great."
And Doug Ogden of Lyons described the green object as a "classic
meteorite" that he would have sworn landed somewhere in north Boulder.
Both Ogden and Blair, among others, commented on the object's bright
green color.
In fact, Boulder firefighters were dispatched to check that area after
a
911 dispatcher and several residents called to report the object. They
found nothing after checking Lee Hill Road and Lefthand Canyon Drive.
Lundberg said in cases like this, local law enforcement and fire
officials are notified by NORAD so they can check the impact site and
ensure there's no fire.
The Lyrid shower, the oldest known meteor shower, was expected to peak
early this morning, according to NASA.
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