Updated Meteor Info
From Bill Cooke of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville….
Update on our visitor from the asteroid belt:
1) Eyewitness reports put the meteor in the same area as the doppler echo – good confirmation. Check out the clump of lines in the map NW of Cullman (along with the eyewitness accounts) at this link
The American Meteor Society did a great job analyzing these reports!
2) The fireball (meteor) traveled from South to North (more SSE to NNW).
3) I sent a search team down to the area indicated by the doppler signature. They spent several hours searching along the roads and other spots where meteorites would be relatively easy to spot. Nothing they saw screamed “meteorite”, but they did bring a few specimens back for a closer look. We are meeting around 8:30 AM tomorrow, and I will probably send another group down on Friday after we have had a few hours to think about how to improve the search.
4) There have been six recorded meteorite falls in Alabama – they are:
Danville – November 27, 1868
Frankfort – December 5, 1868
Felix – May 15, 1900
Leighton – January 12, 1907
Athens – July 11, 1933
Sylacauga – November 30, 1954
If a piece of this meteor is found, we will have a seventh fall. BTW, meteorites are named after the closest town/city to their fall location. So the Athens meteorite fell in or near Athens, and so forth.
Regards,
Bill Cooke
Category: Hodgepodge
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James Spann is one of the most recognized and trusted television meteorologists in the industry. He holds the AMS CCM designation and television seals from the AMS and NWA. He is a past winner of the Broadcast Meteorologist of the Year from both professional organizations.Subscribe
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