All,
A lot of you may already have seen this, but if not, here is a Spaceweather
report on yesterday's fireball over CA.
CALIFORNIA FIREBALL: A remarkable fireball blazed across Califonia on Dec. 27th
around 1:50 am PST. Its brilliant blue-green light caught the attention of
onlookers (some inside their homes) all the way from San Francisco Bay in the
north to the Los Angeles metropolitan area in the south--a range of more than
340 miles. According to one account, the object exploded with a thunderous
boom, producing a spray of golden-colored fragments.
Dec. 27, 2008
Location: Bishop, California
Comments: Grant Bentley: "I got up to go to the bathroom this morning around 1
AM and, as luck would have it, my bathroom's west-facing window framed an
intense fireball in the sky about 30 degrees in declination over the Wheeler
Crest. It was as if someone had set off a rescue flare that instantly bathed
the countryside around Bishop in whitish blue-green light. You could see
portions of the object disintegrating as it trended left to right at an angle
of about 15 degrees below horizontal. At one point, the path of the incoming
meteor went behind a cirrus-stratus cloud that it backlit in snowy green light.
After a brilliant show of less than three seconds (time enough to register the
impressions I am describing now) it was gone without a trace. It was easily the
most massive object I have ever seen burning up as it entered the Earth's
atmosphere."
Location: Corona, California
Comments: Will Wilkens: "At 1:50 a.m. PST I witnessed what appeared to be a
large meteor over Southern California. I am located in South Corona in western
Riverside County. Sitting at my computer facing my window (blinds were open)
which looks north, saw a very bright descending ball of light towards the
northwest…..I stood up to look closer and watched it descend quickly behind the
nearby hills. Angle of descent was 60 deg. Very bright. Saw it for about 8
seconds."
Location: San Jose, California
Comments: George Shirakawa: "I was driving in San Jose on Interstate 280 and
saw the event...I have never seen anything like it!"
Location: Merced, California
Comments: Erika Knorn: "Close to 2:00 a.m. I got up from watching TV to let my
dog outside. As she was walking around the grass I was looking up over our
house and what I saw was the most beautiful ball of light I have ever seen!!!!
As it came over my house I saw the ball of light get more of a trail behind it.
Then it got brighter and looked like it strated to get bigger, then it blew
outwords into a perfect big green circle that formed around the ball. I then
saw the green circle flash a couple quick flashes of green/blue light then it
looked like the fireball blew gold and white flashes behind it and disappeared!
I was so surprised from what I had just seen that I stood outside for a couple
of minutes to see if maybe what I had just saw was some kind of missile or
flare. Then I heard about 50secs or so later a loud distant boom and a slight
rumble like a thunder clap! We had no rain or thunder in our area lastnight so
I knew it wasn't thunder! It also
sounded like a sonic boom. I have been in Merced for along time and when
Castel Air Force Base was active, I did get to hear a few sonic booms and that
is what it also sounded like. I called my brother-law Ken in Modesto California
north of Merced this morning and I told him what I had witnessed. He then told
me he heard something while he was on his computer around the same time I was
outside seeing this all happen!!! I have seen meteor showers before, but I have
NEVER seen something like this! I'm still in complete wow on the how big it
was."
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