The Quadrantids?

Last night under a cold clear Pennsylvania sky I saw probably the most amazing astrological event I have ever witnessed. While driving my girlfriend home a bright, brilliant light buzzed over my car at unbelievable speeds. The object appeared to only a couple thousand feet overhead (not that I have much to reference in terms of big flying space rocks), with a tail that blazed the entire sky and dissipated just as quickly.

From what we saw, we both agreed that the object surely must have hit ground. It seemed to skim the top of the mountain that it disappeared behind. I have been taping meteor showers for most of this winter but this thing was just massive.

So my question to anybody who may know a thing or two: Are the quadrantids big enough to break the atmosphere without disintegrating? I haven't seen much info on any sightings as mine, although I may be blowing this out of proportion.

Here are a few links that I've been looking at.
Spaceweather
Meteorshowersonline
Space

The last link gave me the best idea as to what it was, but this happened pretty early, around midnight, rather than the couple hours after when the shower peaked.

Sorry for posting this in the ufo section, just thought I'd share the story and put it here because to me it is a KUFO (Kind-of Unidentified Flying Object).

most likely it was and this is posted in the wrong forum.
Or if could have been a missle test out of Vanderberg I used to see those all the time. Good one

Well while it may not matter whether I care or not, I have no problem with this being relocated. I just don't know where else to go with it. Space exploration? Sorry I'm still fairly new and have the newbie excitement about posting.

Thanks for the response. I'll check out the Vanderberg thing. Do you think missile tests are performed more during meteor showers to cover them up?

EDIT: More about the speed. It was inhuman, and when I say that I mean too fast to be made by humans even. I don't doubt we are capable possibly but I haven't heard of anything terrestrial that could do what this did.

[edit on 1/4/08 by SantaClaus]

I was driving to work this morning at about 5:45 a.m. Eastern time, in mid-northern western Michigan. It was a very clear sky this morning with a sliver moon low on the horizon. Then I saw them, didn't have a clue there was supposed to be a shower this morning so it took me by surprise.

I thought I was hallucinating at first as I saw a gigantic fireball streak across the southern part of the sky. Then I saw several smaller ones. I got to work at about 5:55 a.m. and stood outside watching it for a few minutes. I saw a minimum of 10 various strength ones cross the sky in several places. Stopped counting after ten, and went inside to work.

Was very cool to see.

edit: by the way, I am referring to the meteor shower, which is what I thought the thread was about when I read the title. lol

[edit on 4-1-2008 by Ionized]

Haha, yep, I wasn't really entertaining the thought of it being anything but the meteorite. But wow, what a show. Cool to hear you got it alittle further north too.

By the way, I see that this thread has been moved a second time! Maybe we can hit every forum with this one!

Originally posted by SantaClaus
Are the quadrantids big enough to break the atmosphere without disintegrating?

The short answer is no... As a general rule, if you see a meteor that remains luminous all the way down to the apparent horizon, it's almost certainly over 100 miles away and high up in the atmosphere. If this is not the case, you'll soon find out about it Meteors penetrating deep enough for fragments to reach the ground will usually produce sonic booms (as much as 5 minutes later).

The material from comets in general is known to be very fragile, and it is not unusual for larger meteoroids to explode after reaching denser parts of the atmosphere. If the event you saw lasted more than 3 or 4 seconds, theres a fair chance that it was not of cometary origin, especially if it was a fast one.

See this link for more info: www.meteorobs.org...

Here's another post I made not long ago witch might also be of interest: www.abovetopsecret.com...

Sounds like you and your friend saw a very nice meteor. Great feeling isn't it? Keep an eye out this August, and you may see a few more during the Perseids, which looks to be the best shower (observing wise) this year. Between now and then, meteor showers are a bit sparse, with the only major shower being the Lyrids in April, but you probably know all that already!

You mentioned you were "taping" meteor showers. What are you using for this? Care to share any of the results with us here ?

Originally posted by Ionized
I thought I was hallucinating at first as I saw a gigantic fireball streak across the southern part of the sky.

I know the feeling! I often have to pinch myself, after picking my lower jaw off the sleeping bag or ground Meteor observing when there is high activity ranks up there with the most surreal experiences!

reply to post by SantaClaus


PS. Size wise, cometary meteoroids tend to be small (sand grain or less), but occasionally pebble (causing meteors about the brightness of the moon), or perhaps larger in rare cases. In many cases the larger and brighter fireballs tend to be more prone to violent/catastrophic disintegrations, but as far as I know, and I just checked to be sure, there is no known example of a cometary meteorite making land. I thought the Tagish Lake Meteorite was considered a possible exception, but it seems that they think it was a rare example of a D-type asteroid now.

PPS. Seeing the occasional pre-peak fireball is not unusual. Meteor showers can be active for weeks in some cases, and background rates fluctuate throughout. Peak nights often have sub-peaks due to there being multiple dust trails intersecting earth's orbit, each trail caused by a different revolution of the comet around the sun. Older trails tend to get more diffuse over time and contribute more to the background rather than a defined peak. In the vast majority of showers activity can be observed in the hours and even days before the peak to varying degrees, and theres no rule that says the brightest meteors will appear during the peak. Sometimes the opposite is true.

I am currently working on a media project, which is almost complete but not quite. We are using a semi-pro HD cam with a modified lense that my friend rigged. He's really a genius because I don't know how he got this thing so dead-on. It really produces beautiful results. The strange thing is (which is why the project has taken on a new angle) is that we are catching some of the F.A.S.T. artifacts that have been discussed on other forums. I don't believe in them personally (although I'm a fan of UFO talk) because they are such different colors and could be the ISS at different angles. What I am getting is more along the lines of moving and disappearing stars (HUGE heavenly objects that move very slowly and disappear randomly). But that is for another forum at a later date. U2U me Chud, I'll give you some more info.

Thanks for that great info CHUD, Starred and Friended. I look forward to checking out your posts in the future.

Ah, and about the thing I saw, it was less than a second, but the tail remained for perhaps an extra half second. The reason it was so odd to me is that usually they are too fast for me to follow, but this was just slow enough for my eyes to see the size of the object ahead of the tail. But really, I could be recalling something I didn't see, because I was blown away. Hindsight tends to be alittle more grandiose than reality. All I know, its that it was meteor-esque and reminded me as such.

Thanks again for the thoughtful post.

You're welcome SantaClaus.

If you spend some time observing meteor showers, you'll see some meteors that you can really get a good look at, because they are slow and/or long. Meteors like that can be very spectacular and memorable. If you want to see more like this, observe early on during the night during a shower. A meteor shower is a little bit like the moon or sun (or any other astronomical object in the sky) in that the apparent point from which meteors appear to radiate from in the sky (called the "radiant") will gradually rise (or set) above (or below in the case of set) the horizon. When the radiant is on or very near the horizon, the stage is set for meteors that you see to enter at extremely shallow angles, and these meteors often have extremely long paths since they are skimming the outer edge of the atmosphere rather than hitting at a steep angle and penetrating deep into the atmosphere.

"Earthgrazers" as they are known are not very common, and you need a little luck to see them, but are well worth the effort, even if you only see one or two during an active shower. As the radiant gets higher in the sky you'll see more meteors, but they get apparently shorter and faster. Earthgrazers are no longer possible once the radiant is more than 10-15 degrees (if memory serves) above the horizon. Try a search if you want more info - I've written on the subject once or twice before here on ATS.

Sounds like an interesting project you're working on. I've been following the F.A.S.T. threads here, and think it's good that people are keeping an eye on the sky for obvious reasons, but I think the majority of "UFOs" in those photos are just satellites, the ISS and/or perhaps black projects. I think you may be seeing something like one of the rumored stealth airship projects being tested, which would explain many of the "star-blocking" UFO sightings, although there may be more to it than that. Like you, I'm keeping an open mind for the moment!

You're indeed lucky to have had this happen. (Maybe you're such a good Santa that it was your just rewards. ) It sounds like you had a spectacular view.

Thanks for sharing, and for all the extra info on taping.

reply to post by SantaClaus


Hi SantaClaus, it does sound like a meteor, but perhaps you could be more specific. What was the time, direction. Did you notice any colour or tails etc?

By the way this would be an Astronomical phenomena. Astronomy is to be never confused with astrology (which in my oppinion is utter rubbish)!!!

Actually a number of Bollides have been reported recently, so maybe it was one of those.

Hey timelike,

You do realize this thread is 3 months old now?

There has indeed been a recent spate of bolides (the last being a super-bolide seen over Italy on 1st March), but this sighting can not be connected with any of those obviously.

Having said that, bolides (very bright meteors) can occur any time. It may well have been a sporadic (random) meteor rather than one belonging to a known meteor shower such as the Quadrantids.

[edit on 5-3-2008 by C.H.U.D.]

Hi Chud,

I didn't realise until after I posted- never mind! I was keeping a looking out bollides myself during the Quadrantids, I kept a lookout in my observatory for hours (in between looking at Mars and Saturn), sadly I didn't see a single one!

Wow, I can't believe I did that. Thanks for pointing it out. My roommate is an astrology fan, and maybe that influenced it. I am more the astroNOMy guy. Sadly, I've left the area so I haven't been able to see any phenomenon in the NE as of late.

Any more on these Bolides? Is there anything in the SW that I can look for? The sky out here seems strangely boring.

As it happens, just got another report of a bolide last Wednesday, over Ontario. Link with photo here: www.cbc.ca...