Sunday Night Fireball in Ohio...... -John
http://www.10tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2472919
Licking County Reports of Meteorite in Licking County
Nature provided a brief, spectacular light show Sunday night, with what aviation authorities say was a meteor flashing through the sky.
The traffic control tower at Port Columbus International Airport said that pilots reported seeing the astronomical event. Tower officials said pilots indicated they thought the meteor exploded in the sky.
Spotting a meteor is not something unheard of, but this one produced a large flash of blue light visible in the sky that many people called the 10TV Newsroom to report. Two reporters out on assignment during the 11 p.m. NightBeat newscast also confirmed seeing the natural phenomenon east of Columbus.
There was also an unconfirmed report of the meteor making impact, thus making it a meteorite.
The Newark Police Department said Licking County authorities were investigating the possibility of the space debris hitting the ground near the small community of Etna. The southwestern Licking County village is due south of Pataskala near Interstate 70.
The sheriff's office said deputies searched for any signs of damage in the area the impact was reported. No signs confirming such an event had been found as of early Monday morning.
Newark Police Officer Mike Oberfield told 10TV that from his vantage point, it didn't appear likely that the meteor hit the ground in Licking County.
But it still made quite an impact.
"It looked like one of the bomb shells they shoot up into the air and sparks come out of the back of it. There's many little points of light glowing or burning. And it had white in it, along with blue and green color to it," Officer Oberfield said.
"I've never seen anything as spectacular as this shooting star either -- the whitest trail I've ever seen. And I've never seen one that had what looks like a twist in it -- or it was rotating."
So there may not be any impression left behind on the landscape. But the event made a mark on the minds of everyone who witnessed it Sunday night.
Truck drivers we found at truck stops in Licking County reported seeing the spectacle while they were on the road as far away as Indiana and Pennsylvania. Another 10TV reporter near Cincinnati at the time says she saw as she was driving toward Columbus.
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