NEWS: Meteor Sightings Across 5 U.S. States

rai...I gotta tell you...the weather is so jicky here it has me disturbed. And I'm not exaggerating.

The weather seems to be weird everywhere!

I find it difficult to judge in the Netherlands. Our weather has always been slichtly different. You can expect alot of rain in the summer, but it can also be very very hot for a couple of weeks. Although winters arent what they were used to be. 20-30 years ago we had a lot of strong winters, but over the last 5-7 years, we don't have real snow anymore, just a little bit, temperature is also not very cold. Infact springs started this year very early in Februari. This change is already going since a few years. But like this summer I can't remember that it was so havy with rain, thunder and storm.

I was up at 3:00 a.m. to watch meteors anyway, (I saw quite a few before the clouds moved in.) because we are right in the middle of a some of predicted showers.

Pegasids Jul 07-Jul 13 peak - Jul 09
Sagittarids Apr 15-Jul 15 peak - (May 19)
alpha-Capricornids Jul 03-Aug 15 peak- Jul 29
July Phoenicids Jul 10-Jul 16 peak - Jul 13

When I read this thread this morning I felt ripped off! I missed all the good stuff. If you want a good show, stay up for the Perseids this year. They have been awesome the last couple of times.

BTW, the fireball made a lot of papers this morning.
Meteor blazes across N. Texas nighttime skies
Meteors Light Up Sky in Five Southern States
Meteor shower graces state with great ball of fire

meteor schedule source: International Meteor Organization (IMO) 2004 Meteor Shower Calendar

I'm just relieved to have a dry backyard after, what seemed like, a month of straight rain. It wasn't a normal June in Texas.

This meteor sighting happened last night? I missed it!

Summers USED to be hot in California. WE have yet to get a heat wave this summer. The reports says that it will be

I just sent the following E-mail to the Manager of KLTV, hopefully we might hear something back!!

Dear Mr Streit,

With regards to the story on the meteor sighting last night, talked about on your website here: www.kltv.com... , may I ask what is the reliability of the source relating to NORAD informing FEMA of coming meteor activity?

One of my colleagues at www.atsnn.com has been in touch with a local FEMA office and forwarded both this article and your sister station's similar article (www.ktre.com..., asking if they have any knowledge of this.
They have since been back in touch with us, informing us they have not personally been told any such information, though they are pursuing enquiries at other regional offices. We have done various searches on the internet and local press, and though we have found various stories relating to the incident, none of them appear to mention NORAD in communication with FEMA.

We would just like to be able to clarify this information and welcome any comments you would like to make.

Many Thanks

Now we wait and see!

Checking back just now to the websites in question,
� the wording of the news items has been rewritten to some degree.

The claim regarding reports from NORAD to FEMA are still there,
� and they remain unattributed.

It appears that the stories are at least still actively being updated,
� despite the absence of any clarification regarding the NORAD-FEMA issue.

Still no replies from the queries I sent them earlier.

...X...

And no further word from Mr. Passey yet either.

Weird - kinda makes you a little nervous huh?

It makes me a little nervous. It's almost as though they are waiting for something else. Maybe it is just me putting too much into this. But I am starting to look at everything together; like puzzle pieces. Hopefully they are not all of the same puzzle.

I guess we have no choice but to just wait and see.

For those of you talking about FEMA being mentioned, and the validity of that, I've found this statement from the National Weather Service:

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1042 PM CDT WED JUL 7 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS RECEIVED A NUMBER OF REPORTS OF A FIREBALL SEEN AROUND 930 PM CDT IN THE SKY FROM CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA AND NORTH TEXAS AND OVER A LARGE AREA OF THE SOUTH CENTRAL UNITED STATES. COORDINATION WITH THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY INDICATE THAT THIS WAS LIKELY A LARGE METEOR.

Oh...umm

You mean to tell me that they maybe didn't see this one coming? Hmm. Oh my gosh, if they did, they certainly did not tell anyone did they?

Originally posted by rangeroftheeast
For those of you talking about FEMA being mentioned, and the validity of that, I've found this statement from the National Weather Service:

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1042 PM CDT WED JUL 7 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS RECEIVED A NUMBER OF REPORTS OF A FIREBALL SEEN AROUND 930 PM CDT IN THE SKY FROM CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA AND NORTH TEXAS AND OVER A LARGE AREA OF THE SOUTH CENTRAL UNITED STATES. COORDINATION WITH THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY INDICATE THAT THIS WAS LIKELY A LARGE METEOR.

WAIT A MINUTE!

What the heck is going on here! "Coordination with FEMA indicates it is likely a large meteor"!!!!!!!!!

Since when does the National Weather Service contact FEMA to find out what the hell is going on meteorologically???

Something is way weird here.

I have just sent a copy of my e-mail to the News Director at KLTR. Maybe if they get enough queries and we don't let this one die, we may eventually get an answer!

It is a bit funny about the Weather Service.... emm... Wonder what that could mean.

Here is a little more from the AP regarding the FEMA/NWS area of this:

Mike Berry, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Shreveport, La., said he fielded about 20 calls from people asking about the mysterious light. The Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office in northeast Louisiana reported around five calls and forwarded them to the weather office.

After discussions with the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency, the weather service said officials concluded that what residents saw was likely a large meteor.

Looks like the e-mails have had some sort of effect! KLTV have now changed their story:

After recieving several calls, D-P-S officials contacted local airports and the Federal Aviation Administration. They say the light was not a plane or any kind of aircraft.

A spokesman for the National Weather Service in Fort Worth said the sightings were likely a meteor shower.

The International Meteor Organization says a minor meteor shower event, the Pegasid shower peaks on Friday, July 9th. That's just two nights after the fireball was seen over East Texas. Another meteor shower event, the Phoenicids shower begins on July 10th.

If you click on my original link at the beginning of this thread, that's what now come up!!
No mention of NORAD or FEMA at all!! How funny is that?
Also note, it is now a minor event.. Not the start of 'Heightened activity'!!

Over on KTRE, however, they still currently have their original story. NORAD, FEMA and all...


EDIT: P.S. With regards to the fairly large amount of quoting - as the story is being changed over time, I thought it would be important to keep a record of what has been said...

[edit on 8-7-2004 by AgentSmith]

[edit on 8-7-2004 by AgentSmith]

They could have at least bothered to respond to one of our emails. I requested additional information from them as soon as this story was posted.

Originally posted by AgentSmith
Over on KTRE, however, they still currently have their original story. NORAD, FEMA and all...

I just got replies from both

This from KTRE:

There is no problem with the story. The information concerning NORAD and FEMA was relayed to us by the National Weather Service.

Thanks for visiting ktre.com,
Lee Ringer
Chief Meteorologist
KTRE TV 9
Lufkin-Nacogdoches, TX
www.ktre.com

From KLTV:

That information came directly from the National Weather Service Office in Shreveport.

Thanks.

Kenny Boles
News Director

[edit on 2004-7-8 by Teknik]

I received a reply too. They said they originally got that information from discussions with the National Weather Service. It's something that they're following up on today.

Well, I am telling you this summer is going to be a bad one i am sure. Down here in south Florida we just had another brush fire, yesterday in the Hialeah/Miami area the smoke was everywhere.....we used to hear this happening in Cali, but not here. Also I listened to the weather yesterday and it was reported in some areas that we had 105F in south Florida. I also saw some parts of southern california with 105-110F. The weather is pretty wierd around the world....I hate to say it, but I told you so...


[edit on 8-7-2004 by Muaddib]

Yep, just checked my e-mail and found this from an hour ago:

I�m told by our Chief Meteorologist that the information came from the National Weather Service office in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Regards,



Kenny Boles

News Director

So, I would have thought the Nation Weather Service would be a pretty reliable source, much less likely to 'make up' or exaggerate information - especially when talking to the press. Maybe something slipped through the net here? What does everyone else think?