'Meteor' trail lasted 15 or 20 minutes

This is an article from The Paris News (Paris, TX) published a few minutes ago....anyway, I know there is a thread about the Meteor/whatever already, but this quote is quite stunning to me, even more so considering the source:

Several Paris residents witnessed an apparent meteor shower, which lit up the sky from Texas to western Tennessee Wednesday night.

"All I saw was the contrail,� Paris Emergency Management Coordinator Lt. Bob Hundley of the Paris Police Department said of the smoke it left behind.

�We had about three 9-1-1 calls and four or five calls on our administrative lines,� Hundley said of the event, which happened a little after 9 p.m. �A dispatcher called and I went outside to look.�

Hundley said initial calls indicated people thought they saw a plane crashing, but Hundley said a crash would not have lasted more than 15 seconds or so.

�This left a trail, which lasted a good 15 or 20 minutes,� Hundley said.

web.theparisnews.com...


A meteor leaving a trail for 15 or 20 minutes? HUH?


[edit on 8-7-2004 by rangeroftheeast]

[edit on 8-7-2004 by rangeroftheeast]

so if it isn't a meteor, then does anyone know if space junk can leave trails that last that long?

and if it is neither, then exactly what the hell it is?

Why would NORAD notify FEMA.......? Now that is an interesting point turn.


original news source:

www.kltv.com
Thousands of reports tonight across Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri of a big ball of fire with a tail, flying across the northeast sky. Calls began coming into our newsroom a little after 9:30, all with the same story. Witnesses describe something that looked like a meteor or a comet. Authorities across East Texas are looking for answers tonight.

A spokesman for the National Weather Service in Fort Worth said the sightings were not tied to a weather event and were likely a meteor shower.

NORAD has told FEMA today was the first day of heightened meteor showers that could last the rest of the month.


Please visit the link provided for the complete story.


I think this is quite interesting, as I thought last month was supposed to be particularly busy, which it seemed to be, but the fact that NORAD have felt the need to inform FEMA is even more suspicious!
As you can see from the links below, it even made the news briefly over here in the UK!

Related News Links:
www.zwire.com
www.guardian.co.uk