[Rockhounds] speaking of Meteors...

[Charles Baran]

The question remains:  Are they all really "meteors" or are they 
something else?? From someplace else??  Just a thought.

Chuck

J. R. Hodel wrote:

>Hi:
>
>With the long discussion of meteorites, I thought I would tell an old story of when Martha and I saw a meteor.  Back in the summer of 1969, the summer we met, we were both working nights at a morning newspaper.  Driving to my home after work, 1 or 2 am, suddenly the landscape around us lit up, as bright as day it seemed!
>
>When we each leaned out of the car and looked up, there was a streak of light from horizon to horizon, like a mega super neon tube!  As we watched, it slowly dimmed and died out.
>
>We went on home to be with the family (everyone was awake, everyhone worked second shift, or stayed up to be with those who did) but then went back to the newspaper, to read the wire.
>
>Now everyone can see the "wire" any time, thanks to the innertubes of the internet, but then you had to be a subscriber, and have a bank of teletype machines.  It seems the streak of light we saw was witnessed from central North Carolina all the way up to upper New York.
>
>The astronomers told the reporters the meteor had skimmed through the stratosphere, which was a very good thing, as it could have presented a serious problem if it had been just a tiny bit closer!!
>
>I've seen a lot of meteorites since then, with green and blue explosions, because we live in the country with a dark sky.  But I hope I'm never surprised like that again, I thought they had set off the big ones!
>
>JR in WV
>
>       
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