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Meteor and possible meterorite in eastern Washingt

Started by vladimir, 02/19/2008 06:44PM
Posted 02/19/2008 06:44PM Opening Post
This was the Wenatchee World article today on a meteor in eastern Washington. Note the pilots comments about it striking the ground and becoming a meteorite!!!

The country around Lind-Coulee is mostly wheatfields with a little bit of sage in the draws.

Should be fairly easy country for a recovery.

Meteor seen across wide swath of Pacific Northwest
Meteor seen across wide swath of Pacific Northwest


Posted February 19, 2008

SPOKANE (AP) — A meteor streaked through the sky over the Pacific Northwest and apparently landed in Eastern Washington early today.

STORY TOOLS

A Horizon Airlines pilot reported seeing the meteor hit Earth with a flash and a burst of light near Highway 26 and the Lind-Hatton Road in the southeast corner of Adams County about 5:25 a.m., said Mike Fergus, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman in Seattle.

Sheriff's dispatchers said they had no reports of damage. Washington State Patrol Lt. Robert D. Kerwin said there was no indication of a traffic disruption.

Fergus said he did not have the pilot's flight number, point of origin, destination or altitude at the time of the sighting.

A number of pilots reported seeing the meteor streaking through the sky from Boise, Idaho, into Washington state, an FAA duty officer said without giving his name.

In Wenatchee, RiverCom dispatchers started getting calls right after the meteor apparently hit at 5:25 a.m., said Millie Tirapelle, the Wenatchee dispatch center's director.

"We got calls from Entiat, Monitor, from motorists that were out towards Crescent Bar, Badger Mountain and Waterville," said Tirapelle. "Everyone, of course, seemed to think it was in their backyard, but of course it was observed statewide."

She said no record was kept of how many calls were received, but that "the phones were ringing off the hook."

People reported seeing "at least one big light, then another one," said Tirapelle.

Wendell Holve, a Chelan County sheriff's deputy, said he was in his patrol car at a parking lot in Monitor when he saw what looked "like a fireball, almost like a shooting star but a lot closer."

Holve said he was looking southeast and the object looked like it was going right over Wenatchee. He said it had a very white or bluish-white tail.

"It was extremely bright. I mean it lit up the sky," Holve said. "It was pretty impressive."

Ray Eickmeyer of Entiat told a KING 5 Seattle TV reporter this morning that he was traveling southbound on Highway 97A when he saw what he described as a very large shooting star come down east of the Waterville Plateau. He said the object was "traffic-light green" in color and that he saw several flashes of light on the horizon after it apparently hit the ground.

Television stations in Spokane reported getting viewer calls from across Washington and northern Idaho and parts of Oregon and southeastern British Columbia starting at about 5:30 a.m.

The callers said it resembled summer lightning, a rocket, a satellite or an exploding transformer. A woman in Walla Walla, about 55 miles south-southeast of the reported crash site, said she heard a sonic boom and felt a shock wave not long after seeing the streaking meteor.

—World staff contributed to this report
Posted 02/22/2008 02:30AM #1
This "fall" was captured on a security camera. I saw the video of it last night. I'll see if I can finmd a link......but you might google it if you want to see the impact.


Mike

http://www.DarkSights.com
Posted 02/22/2008 02:18PM #2
Here is a link to the security video of the meteor:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/multimedia/2008/02/security_camera_catches_meteor.html

Since it happened on the 19th, a day before US 193 was blown up it seems likely that it was a real meteor or other space junk.

Joplin
Posted 02/23/2008 08:25PM #3
I saw the footage the night it happened, that was just wild. I wonder if they're trying to triangulate an impact zone from the various eyewitness accounts?

So, if you had seen such a thing, what would be the first thing you would do:

A) Call whoever it is you call when such things happen, or
B) Get in the car and drive toward the apparent impact site or
C) Say, "Whoa... dude..." and go to bed.