Were they meteorites?

[tncreeker]

I`m living in TN now, but I`m here from South Carolina. Whenever I heard meteor shower, I went to the beach and watched them from there. They were always white and very far away. Well a few months ago there was supposed to be a shower here. Clear night, no city lights, so there I was waiting for the white streaks. Never happened. What I did see were orange streaks that looked no more than 30 ft. in the air. I still swear I heard a thud in the woods when one went by. They are the woods, could have been anything. So what was I seeing? I only saw about 6 , nothing like what I`m used to seeing. I swear,,,,looked like they were close enough to grab. Is that an illusion of speed and light? Thanx for any input.

 

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[bookcliff]

Tncreeker,
Sounds like the real thing to me. We had a meteor two years ago in Utah that was seen from Wyoming, Idaho, Las Vegas, Grand Junction and Arizona. It was supposed to have landed about a hundred miles west of Salt Lake City. People living in Salt Lake were describing similar to what you described. This meteor happened just after midnight but lit up the sky briefly as if it was daytime. Many angles were caught on surveillance video and some of the videos are on YouTube.

The comments were on newspaper articles and TV channel web sites. The comments may not be available. It seems apparent to me that often these meteors don't travel alone or they break up over a "large" area. Take your dog to the woods and see if it can sniff it out. Just sayin.

This happened the night of November 18, 2009 near a yearly meteor shower. Leonids I believe. There was some discussion as to whether it was part of the meteor shower. I haven't heard of any pieces being found.
Nick

 

[tncreeker]

Nick,
Thanx for answer and info. One question,,,,how would my dog be able to sniff out a rock? He does real good w/ golf balls, rabbits etc. How will he know what to look for? I`m gonna go look for myself but I`m thinking chances are slim I would even know what I was looking for,,,thanx again.

Lori

 

[Tuberale]

Dogs may be naturally sensitive to the burnt odor of recent fusion crusts on meteorites. A fusion crust is often shiny black, like black patent-leather shoes. Or a fresh fracture of obsidian.

Meteorites do not always embed themselves in the ground, even they may be travelling at supersonic speeds a few miles before. Air becomes more dense with increased water vapor the closer to sea level you get. The Washougal, Washington meteorite from the 2 July 1939 was estimated to be travelling at 160,000 mph just seconds before impact. Just imagine the sonic boom: a term which had not yet been invented at the time! Yet only one piece that was found was pumice-light and found resting on top of a bed of leaf litter. There was no impact crater. This also proves that not all meteorites are heavy nor metallic.

Ironically, the people who heard the Washougal, Washington meteorite and tracked it in the air were convinced, in some cases, that it was travelling 180 degrees from where it came from. Auditory illusion. Once the speed of a meteorite goes under supersonic speed, the sound wave produced before-hand continues onward, sometimes preceding an actual impact.

That's why it is so important to get as many first-hand accounts of meteor sightings before impact, in order to approximate where an impact actually occurred.

Weird? You betcha! Counter-intuitive? Big time! But finding pieces of a meteorite, then back-tracking who saw what where, and when, are often weird and counter-intuitive.

But consider, too, that the Willamette Meteorite, which was found in 1903 about 15 miles from where I live, did not fall there. It is suspected of being deposited thousands of years ago in an iceberg after the ice dam on Lake Missoula broke. Since Lake Missoula broke between 30 and 150 times during the last Ice Age, it is not known where the original impact site is: British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana are all possibilities.

All this proves, of course, is that meteorites, like gold, are where you find them.

 

[tncreeker]

Well now, all I can say to that is,,,Things that make you go hhhmmmmm.
If I ever find it,,,you will be the firsts to know :P

 

[Tuberale]

Meteorites can also embed themselves deeply into the ground, depending on soil conditions and speed of impact.

One of the largest known meteorite falls, Sikhote-Alin in Russia, had several pieces recovered from the 15-30 foot depth. And these were not tiny pieces, either. Estimated total meteorite fall was in the multi-metric ton range. At one time quality pieces of Sikhote-Alin were very common and very cheap. Then people started collecting meteorites. And now even the common pieces are selling for big $$$.

A recent palasite recovered in the Mid-West also was found at least 10 feet deep in the middle of a field. The odd thing to people looking for meteorites, is that the hole in the surface of the ground was only about 2 inches wide, while the stone itself was over 3 feet across.

 

[bookcliff]

Tncreeker,
Not sure how to train the dog. A friend said they will pick up on what you are looking for so you may have to find a couple first. If you have one for a sample maybe you could train him that way. My dog is so hyper. He ignores the meteorite when I try to put it under his nose. I got the dig mainly to train for meteorites. Not easy.
Nick

 

[mcmich]

Sounds like a similar experience that I had. Some years ago we were having a bonfire on the beach on Lake Huron. It was a dead calm night and very clear. There were no waves on the lake which does not happen too often. There were several of us sitting at the fire when we heard a small boom sound that sounded like it came from behind us, then we heard a slight buzzing sound. Iagine hitting a golf ball that has a flap of the skin loose. Makes a buzzing noise. We heard it hit the water. You could tell it was going fast by the sound it made when it hit. About three minutes later small waves started rippling in on the shore. The waves were real close together. It must have been pretty close. I always regreted not getting a snorkle and trying to find it but I suspect it was in about 10 feet of water based on how long it took the wave/ripples to hit the shore.