http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/29870199.html
Strange sighting may have been a meteorite
SOUTH BEND --- Reports of a large bright colored object in the skies over South
Bend Saturday night left gazers shocked and in awe over what they saw. A member
of the Michiana Astronomical Society said the object may have been a fireball.
"Wow, how cool," said Brian Hutchings who observed the reddish-orange object.
"That was the first thing I thought, was man that is neat."
Sightings of this fireball in the skies Saturday night were also reported in
Michigan, Ohio, and parts of Canada.
Sunday night, all eyes were on the sky at Toscana Park in Granger.
A woman dining at a restaurant left her seat to take a look at a telescope
located adjacent to the fountain.
"In the center, not quite the center," she said, while trying to see planet
Jupiter.
Reports of a fireball or meteorite were reported Saturday night.
Hutchings points to the location where he discovered the fireball, saying,
"Right up in that area, it traveled, traveled, traveled, right up in that area
near the telephone pole." He said after 15 to 25 seconds the object burned out.
The fast moving object stopped Hutchings from grabbing a camera.
"I was fixing my antenna and just happened to look up in the sky," he said.
He said images from the Peekskill Meteorite captured on video, falling from the
sky in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Virginia, back in 1992 closely
resembles what he saw.
Not only are meteors and fireballs in the sky occasionally, there's something
in the sky every night, Michiana's Astronomy Society's Chuck Bueter said.
"If we had skies that weren't so light polluted, more people would experience
the grandeur of the sky," Bueter said.
With the telescopes out, Chuck attempted to show us some of the many objects in
the sky --- including Jupiter, up close.
And phenomena both man-made and natural. Objects able to be seen with the naked
eye.
"The only thing you can see are clouds," Bueter said, while pointing to the sky
where a Iridium Flare was masked by thick clouds.
Normally, an Iridium Flare is a very bright object. Bueter also attempted to
show WSBT News the International Space Station, but conditions were not
favorable.
"This is the nature of the hobby of astronomy," Bueter said. "Sometimes you get
snuffed by weather, but if you stay with it, the rewards are great enough to
make it worthwhile."
Canadian astronomers confirmed this fireball as a meteor.
Bueter said on a clear night, people should be able to look outside your door
and see visible passes and iridium flares throughout the week of September 28th.
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