BREAKING - Possible Meteor Impact Northern Nevada

Originally posted by FireballStorm

Originally posted by elouina
reply to post by charlyv

 

Yeah but this was bigger than a washing machine.

Exactly, meaning that it was likely not a Lyrid.

As charlyv said, most Lyrids are tiny - grains of sand or perhaps the occasional golf-ball sized meteoroid.

From past experience we know that washing machine sized objects are much more likely to be asteroidal rather than cometary in origin.

Very relevant username you have Don't suppose you have any 'interesting' theories about these fireball asteroids?

I like this stuff, it gets people looking at the skies!

Originally posted by yampa
Experts, like the American Meteor Society, are saying the source of the Nevada fireball was the Lyrid meteor shower, but other experts contest this was still unusual and might have nothing to do with the shower.

As I recall, The AMS said that "there as a chance that it could be a Lyrid, but sporadic/random meteoroid was more likely". I'm not sure where you got that from?

Originally posted by yampa
Supposedly pictures from Nevada:

They are actually all photographs of completely different events. It's not unusual for news sources to post pictures like these and not make it clear that they are from other events. Gets people every time...

The first is a photograph of a Geminid fireball taken by Walter Pacholka

Originally posted by yampa

The second is taken from this NASA APOD.

Originally posted by yampa

The last one was taken by John Chumack in 1994.

reply to post by salamanda


To answer your question, yes the shuttle produced a distinctive double sonic boom. I got to hear and see a few out at Edwards AFB. Whatever this thing was, and it could very well have been a bolide, the trajectory and apparent path across the ground makes it just the slightest bit suspect.

The photos from the Reno newspaper look eerily like the footage we saw when the shuttle broke up over Texas. If whatever it was did indeed break up in flight, then we can expect hoards of meteor hunters to be scouring the Nevada desert. If there are also "official looking" search teams out, we'll have more clues as to what it was.

This bears some watching imho.

Originally posted by FireballStorm



As I recall, The AMS said that "there as a chance that it could be a Lyrid, but sporadic/random meteoroid was more likely". I'm not sure where you got that from?

Sorry, yep, this is why I said 'supposedly' - all this info is from reading various newspaper excerpts, those photos are from various newspapers using the image without any proper indication of source. Why do newspapers think it's ok to do that?

Originally posted by yampa

Originally posted by FireballStorm



As I recall, The AMS said that "there as a chance that it could be a Lyrid, but sporadic/random meteoroid was more likely". I'm not sure where you got that from?

Sorry, yep, this is why I said 'supposedly' - all this info is from reading various newspaper excerpts, those photos are from various newspapers using the image without any proper indication of source. Why do newspapers think it's ok to do that?

edit on 23-4-2012 by yampa because: (no reason given)

Yea, that bothers me as well. Historically, the media has been the worst place to get accurate information on meteor events. They need hype, so when there is a lack of photo data, they just stick in something they think is relevant.

They almost always hint on them landing somewhere as well. Best source, are the scientists and active collectors that post in the Meteorite-List. Scientists like Ron Baalke from NASA , Anne Black and Mike Farmer frequent this list as well as hundreds of other famous meteorite hunters and scientists.

Originally posted by yampa
Very relevant username you have

I thought it was appropriate when I chose it

Originally posted by yampa
Don't suppose you have any 'interesting' theories about these fireball asteroids?

Well, I have seen the same "is the sky falling?" questions since I became interested in the subject, almost 15 years ago now, and it took me a little while to find out that fireballs were actually quite common myself.

I do think that more fireballs make the news now, than they did when I started, but there can be a number of reasons for this besides there being more fireballs hitting the atmosphere.For starters news gathering has improved over the years, and places like ATS pick up local reports, that most people would not hear about if they were on ATS.

Another factor I think is that prices for high resolution cameras have been coming down, while the technology improves, so now anyone can get footage that would make a story much more news worthy.

Perhaps more people are looking up due to hobbies like astronomy and UFOs than before, and it's also easier to find information and make reports about these kinds of events than it ever was before.

I am always seeing fireball reports that are not posted on here, and have been since day one (was a member on ATS since 2007 with my previous account), so dare I say it, you are only seeing the tip of the iceberg here on ATS, especially if you take into account that most fireballs go unreported or unseen for a variety of reasons like:

#1 Most of earth's surface is uninhabited - Two thirds is ocean, and out of the remaining land area left, something like 95% is either extremely sparsely populated or unpopulated wilderness.

#2 Many fireballs are not seen because either it's daylight, or it's cloudy.

#3 People are indoors/asleep/at work/not looking up.

So I wouldn't be surprised to see even more reports on a yearly basis in coming years.

I don't think it's that much different to our annual meteor showers, in the sense that some years we get more and other years we pass through a less meteoroid rich part of space.

Most fireballs that we encounter don't even get close to hitting the ground at significant speeds, even when they are the size of a small house, but the bigger they are the less frequently we are likely to encounter them, so there is no point in worrying about them.

Of course, you've probably heard about the "fireballs of February"


No one has figured out what happened in this space we call February, but there can't be too many alternatives apart from an ancient break up or collision between objects I suspect.

Originally posted by yampa
I like this stuff, it gets people looking at the skies!

Absolutely. Most people don't know what they are missing!

Originally posted by yampa
Why do newspapers think it's ok to do that?

Exactly like charlyv says - they are basically sloppy and like to hype things up rather than actually take the time to find and relay the facts to the public.

I'd also add that METEOROBS (The Meteor Observing mailing list) is another good source of information on the subject along with the Meteorite-List.

My Uncle lives there. He say's it's all clear.

It is sort of like:

If a meteor falls in the desert and no one saw it fall, did it really make a crater?

reply to post by Newbomb Turk

Originally posted by metodex
It's weird, only 6 pages of comments, yet this thread has been on the main page for more than 24 hours.I haven't heard any official information about it. Maybe it never hit the ground?

I had a dream about everybody having dreams about meteors hitting earth.I hate people who say they are prophets because they think they're holier than thou. Cut the crap,fellow human.

have any of you guys having these prophetic dreams seen the powerball numbers for the drawing this week?

Originally posted by Newbomb Turk

Originally posted by MrRamblinRose
Guess who's hiking around kingsbury grade tommorow?

Coordinates would be amazing if anyone gets them.

Just be sure to be careful should you happen upon a meteor that is leaking green ooze out of it because should you touch it bare handed.....well it didn't end all too well for Stephen King, I'm just sayin

So Funny you said that

I was just thinking the timing might be right for a sequel

Fireball Over California/Nevada: How Big Was It?

Bill Cooke of the Meteoroid Environments Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., estimates the object was about the size of a minivan, weighed in at around 154,300 pounds (70 metric tons) and at the time of disintegration released energy equivalent to a 5-kiloton explosion.

www.jpl.nasa.gov...

The article also states the explosion took place over CA Central valleys.

I expect to hear of hoards of Metal detector and magnetic stick people..Roaming around somewhere in the area, once they sort out as many reports as they can find. I think a meteorite that can be tied to a known event, is worth more to the collector, than one randomly collected.

I'm still sorry I didn't get to see it. There is a great deposit of Crystalline Quartz in that area too. So I'm often up there hounding for nice size quartz crystals..

Well in an update, the strewnfield of the bolide was discovered by scientist Robert Ward in the meteorite-list, some pieces have been found! This is a history making find.

Subject: [meteorite-list] New California meteorite found! To: "Meteorite List" Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original It is an honor to announce that, at 11:00 am local, Robert Ward was the first to recover a stone from the April 22, 2012, California fireball -- which was evidently generated by a large, carbonaceous CM mass. Robert is now responsible for the initial recovery of two-out-of-three-ever California witnessed falls, including Red Canyon Lake.

From JPL:

www.jpl.nasa.gov... Fireball Over California/Nevada: How Big Was It? Jet Propulsion Laboratory April 24, 2012 A bright ball of light traveling east to west was seen over the skies of central/northern California Sunday morning, April 22. The former space rock-turned-flaming-meteor entered Earth's atmosphere around 8 a.m. PDT. Reports of the fireball have come in from as far north as Sacramento, Calif. and as far east as North Las Vegas, Nev. Bill Cooke of the Meteoroid Environments Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., estimates the object was about the size of a minivan, weighed in at around 154,300 pounds (70 metric tons) and at the time of disintegration released energy equivalent to a 5-kiloton explosion. "Most meteors you see in the night's sky are the size of tiny stones or even grains of sand and their trail lasts all of a second or two," said Don Yeomans of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Fireballs you can see relatively easily in the daytime and are many times that size - anywhere from a baseball-sized object to something as big as a minivan." Elizabeth Silber of the Meteor Group at the Western University of Canada, Ontario, estimates the location of its explosion in the upper atmosphere above California's Central Valley. Eyewitnesses of this fireball join a relatively exclusive club. "An event of this size might happen about once a year," said Yeomans. "But most of them occur over the ocean or an uninhabited area, so getting to see one is something special." NASA detects, tracks and characterizes asteroids and comets passing close to Earth using both ground- and space-based telescopes. The Near-Earth Object Observations Program, commonly called "Spaceguard," discovers these objects, characterizes a subset of them, and establishes their orbits to determine if any could be potentially hazardous to our planet. JPL manages the Near-Earth Object Program Office for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. More information about asteroids and near-Earth objects is at: www.jpl.nasa.gov... . DC Agle 818-393-9011 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. [email protected] 2012-114

More news:
Spaceweather (scroll down)

And another update:

The recovered stones are from a "carbonaceous CM mass", this means it is most likely a carbonaceous chondrite, one of the most VALUABLE meteorites you can find. We are talking HUGE bucks here, and not to mention the scientific value of this primordial material, which are known to contain trace amino-acids , methane and other fun organic type stuff. This is a fantastic find.

reply to post by charlyv


He's one the "Meteorite Men" from the Discovery channel, correct?

Oh, and Thanks CharlyV...
Here is a link to a photo of the type of Meteor to which you are referring.
Murchison Meteorite

Colorful inclusions, and like you said VERY primordial...and surprising some of these can contain decent amounts of water!

Originally posted by spacedoubt
reply to post by charlyv

 

He's one the "Meteorite Men" from the Discovery channel, correct?

No, he was a guest on the show though. The 2 meteorite men are Geoff Notkin and Steve Arnold.

Ward and Mike Farmer team up together a lot, and they are definitevely in the same ilk as Geoff and Steve.

reply to post by spacedoubt

Here is a link to a photo of the type of Meteor to which you are referring. Murchison Meteorite Colorful inclusions, and like you said VERY primordial...and surprising some of these can contain decent amounts of water!

Yes, you are correct, Water! - Murchison is a great example, thanks for the pic.

A little about Murchison.... you can take a piece of this meteorite and put it in a small test tube or vial. Let it sit for a week, and when you open it , and take a sniff you get a shot of primordial methane! Inhaling a gas that has been on an asteroid or perhaps another planet.... that is 4 billion years old.

Thanks for the Correction..

I wish the Field had strewn out along Nevada...I'd be out there myself....I have a Magnetic stick, and a Metal detector. I've found enough nails to build a house.
Nevada is great for preservation, so dry, and very hard soils..Not much vegetation or Weathering. Most of the other rocks have a red desert patina, so these would really stand out.
Ah Maybe next time, I'll get a piece of the rock..

Originally posted by charlyv
reply to post by spacedoubt

 

Here is a link to a photo of the type of Meteor to which you are referring. Murchison Meteorite Colorful inclusions, and like you said VERY primordial...and surprising some of these can contain decent amounts of water!

Yes, you are correct, Water! - Murchison is a great example, thanks for the pic.

A little about Murchison.... you can take a piece of this meteorite and put it in a small test tube or vial. Let it sit for a week, and when you open it , and take a sniff you get a shot of primordial methane! Inhaling a gas that has been on an asteroid or perhaps another planet.... that is 4 billion years old.

Primordial methane........Could my Big Black dog be a meteorite?