Awesome Meteorite Sighting

I had this story for a while yet never actually shared it, it was quite an event and scared the daylight out of me.

July, 31 2005
11:30pm
Muskoka, Ontario, Canada
60 Degrees
~45 Degrees Northeast

Bright yellow object, streaked across the sky. Visible tail that extended a few arc degrees. Faint yet apparent crackling noise that sounded like a burning magnesium ribbon. 3 eye witnesses.
Angle of Decent/Inclination: ~25 Degrees

Okay I think I got the object reporting notation down. It looked a lot like the meteorite in this image.



This was quite an amazing sighting, I was just wondering if more people had any experiences like this.

GoldEagle


[edit on 9/30/2005 by GoldEagle]

I saw a similiar anomoly a couple years back when the US did a suprise testing of the "Minute Man" missle that traveled 8,000 miles in under 30 minutes to destroy a tartget. I thought it was an astroid coming at us. We didn't know what to think?

Did it have colors in the tail?
Did it it look like it disappeared into a mist?
Are there military bases arounf there?

The tail was a bright-yellow with a tiny bit of green. It faded away as it traveled into the horizon below the treeline.

I doubt that there are any millitary buildings there, but who knows?

Great pic, Gold Eagle...the finger certainly puts things in perspective.

During my lifetime, I've had 3 similar events. (I'm 58)
The first, I was having dinner with my parents and girlfriend in the late 60's (not sure what year) at a restaurant in Kitchener. The place, The Charcoal Steakhouse, had a wall of windows with a view of the south end of town, looking west. It was just getting dark outside when my dad dropped his fork and shouted; "Oh my God!!! The Bomb!!!". Well, his jaw was about level with the table and I turned around to look what was scaring him. The night sky had turned white...as if it was the middle of the day. The light lasted for about 30 seconds and then everything was normal again. My dad was sure WWIII had started and that a nuclear bomb had gone off nearby. What really happened was that a meteorite about the size of a truck tire had smacked into Lake Huron about 200 miles northwest of us.

The second was a similar experience, with the sky lighting up late at night...I think I was walking home from a party at 2 in the morning, when the sky lit up for about 10 seconds.

The third was recently...My son and I were heading for the car late one night when I happened to look up and saw a fireball traverse the sky from the north to the south. It was big and orange with a flame that must have been hundreds of miles long. My son saw it as well because I had time to point it out to him. The fireball must have 'skipped' the atmosphere, because it just seemed to 'peter out' without falling.

It's scary to think of what can come hurtling out of space at us, isn't it?

edit to include; Isn't there a military facility called Camp Pettawawa (sp?) north of the Muskokas, near Renfrew?


[edit on 30-9-2005 by masqua]

Golden eagle, the lights you were seeing was the "Missle" leaving the atmopshere and the rainbow colors were left behind. It probably reentered somewhere on the other side of the world. It was certanly in the atmosphere if you saw colors.

Excellent story masqua, you certainly seen more then I have. This being the first really left it's mark on me. It is also very scary how these things hurl down on us, but I doubt that one would actually come down in the same area as you. The chances are very slim. Thanks for sharing. I'm not sure if Camp Pettawawa exists or if it's a missile base.

AnAbsoluteCreation I'm not quite sure at the moment but I find it unlikely that it was a missile. What would it be doing over Ontario? The colours probably were created from burning metals or atmospheric distortions.

GoldEagle

That's why I asked if there were a military base close. I saw this phenomenon over Malibu. California. I do not know for sure, I was only offering an alternative for I had similiar experience. It is a cool pic though, nonetheless.

Petawawa has been a military base since 1904 and is now home to 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group. They are a 'special force' and the base complete with a small village for military families. It's situated on the Ottawa River south of Deep River (a town) and Northwest of Renfrew.

You can find it on 'google maps' by following the Ottawa River west of Renfrew.

I doubt that they have any missiles there, but, hey...ya jest never know, eh? Us canny canucks kinda like to keep our cards close to the vest.

www.army.dnd.ca...

What you saw was a meteorite...I'm sure of it. It must have been quite a sight for you, knowing how dark those Muskoka nights can be. I spent some time near Minden, in the Halliburtons this past summer, and the night sky is unbelievable when it's clear.

There is a bit of a misconception here, I didn't take that picture. It's from a case that looks very similar to the one I saw. I said, "It looked a lot like the meteorite in this image". Just wanted to clear it up, but it looked 100% like that image.

I totally forgot about Camp Pettawawa, but I think it is more of a training facility (I'm sure someone mentioned it was, but I'm unsure of it's true function) then anywhere they would launch a missile.

I still sticking with the idea that it was a meteorite from space. Not a missile, not a flare, and definitely not a alien space craft.

GoldEagle

[edit on 9/30/2005 by GoldEagle]

Originally posted by GoldEagle
There is a bit of a misconception here, I didn't take that picture.

yea...I figured that...still a great pic, though, loved the way the finger showed how big the fireball was (for whoever did take the pic).

On Petawawa...

I think it is more of a training facility

Nope...it's a full time base for the regulars. It used to be a training base but evolved to a full time base. (see link in post previous)

I still sticking with the idea that it was a meteorite from space. Not a missile, not a flare, and definitely not a alien space craft.

Yup, you lucky guy (guessing here)...now, going by my experience, you might see a couple more before your eyes go dim...

From the image, if that's what it looked like, and the description, I'd say it was a satellite or chunk or something manmade burning up as it reentered the atmosphere.

It certainly could have been some space junk re-entering the atmosphere, cmdr. There is plenty floating around up there waiting to come buzzing back down.

Here's a link to the expected Leonids coming up Nov 18th. This page shows a fireball during a previous shower. It doesn't look too hopeful for a really good shower this year, unless you live in Hawaii, but, you never know. It's a great info page about the shower anyways

mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk...

Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid
From the image, if that's what it looked like, and the description, I'd say it was a satellite or chunk or something manmade burning up as it reentered the atmosphere.

That's nothing, I know a geologist that was up in the Alberta tundra and a satelite with the NASA logo on it came down, 500m from them. It deployed a net like meshing (parachute?) and crash landed. It had this compound lens so it might have been a telescope. They got their helecopters fly over to invesigate it. I've seen pictures of this telescope thing, but I have to ask him if it's okay to display them on the net.

[edit on 10/1/2005 by GoldEagle]

Originally posted by GoldEagle
I still sticking with the idea that it was a meteorite from space. Not a missile, not a flare, and definitely not a alien space craft.

GoldEagle

[edit on 9/30/2005 by GoldEagle]

Just to clarify, In space the object is called a meteoroid. While burning in the atmosphere it's called a meteor. When found on the ground it's called a meteorite.

Tom