Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Blue / Green Light Over Lafayette, Indiana?! September 27th A Meteor Exploded!

My fiancee, myself and soon to be mother in law was sitting outside the other night enjoying a small Autumn fire when we saw a flash of light, blue-ish / green-ish in color. It looked like a streak of light that started from up high in the sky and falling toward the ground. Almost like a firework however we couldn't hear any sound. We wondered what it was but then soon brushed it off like no big deal. I couldn't let it go and kept looking online for something to explain what it was. Turns out, it was a meteor that exploded over Columbus Ohio! And there were MANY MANY reports of the event!

It was reported that it could be seen from at least 14 US states! Here is a chart showing where it was seen below.
I also found a video of the meteor exploding from Greenwood, Indiana. This is pretty much how things looked for us in Lafayette, as well. No sound just a quick streak of light! Pretty amazing! Take a look.


Here is a little more detail on the event from the Space Weather web sight below.

OHIO FIREBALL: On Sept. 27th, A lot of people reported seeing a blue / green-ish light in the night sky! Turns out it was a meteor that exploded in the skies above the US midwest. Some Witnesses reported shadows cast upon the ground, unusual sounds, and a swirling contrail marking the aftermath of the blast. 

"It was the most brilliant fireball that I have ever seen!" reports Angela McClain, who sends this picture from Faith Ranch in Jewett, Ohio:

This image is from www.spaceweather.com As well as some of the reports.
"The entire landscape lit up," she continues. "I spun around and there it was, a huge, bright green light, streaking across the sky. Even when it was gone, there was still a bright line in the sky about 20 seconds later. We were all stunned."

"This was a very bright event," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Flares saturated our meteor cameras, and made determination of the end point (the terminus of the fireball's flight through the atmosphere) virtually impossible. Judging from the brightness, we are dealing with a meter class object."

Data from multiple cameras shows that the meteoroid hit Earth's atmosphere traveling 51 km/s (114,000 mph) and passed almost directly over Columbus, Ohio. According to the American Meteor Society, the fireball was visible from at least 14 US states!!
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So if you were outside late on the 27th of September 2013, Well, now you know what you saw! :)

Have a great day bloggers!

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