Suspected Meteorite Seen Streaking In Midwest Sky
Bright Blue Light Could Have Been Space Debris
POSTED: 4:55 p.m. EST March 27, 2003
People throughout the Midwest called police after seeing a flash of bright blue light in the midnight sky.
The National Weather Service said it was likely that either a meteorite or piece of space debris broke up.
People in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio called police agencies about 1 a.m. Thursday to report seeing a bright blue light in the sky. Sgt. Jeff Mangiaracina with the Sheriff's Department in Will County, Ill., said he received calls from as far away as Wisconsin.
A freelance photographer shooting a fire in a suburb south of Chicago captured a bright flash of light that "turned midnight to noon" for several seconds, and authorities said it appeared it was the breaking up of a meteorite.
Huge chunks of rock-like objects (pictured, right) from the suspected meteorite damaged the roofs of two homes, but noone was injured.
National Weather Service offices in Indianapolis, Chicago and Wilmington, Ohio, reported receiving calls about the object.
An Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper spotted the meteor over Ross County. She told Columbus television station WCMH-TV that the flash was so low that it looked like the object hit the ground.
The Franklin County radio room received three calls about a bright flash of light. The Butler County sheriff's office north of Cincinnati said that they received 60 calls in 15 minutes. Most described a green and orange-colored flash in the sky in the northern part of the county.
Jim Kaplan with the Romeoville, Ill., office of the Weather Service said he was outside checking a rain gauge when he saw a flash of light in the sky.
"First, it got very bright and the sky lit up," Kaplan said. "You could see something streaking across the sky and breaking up into glowing chunks as it went from west to east."
"We've got no official classification as to what it was," Weather Service meteorologist Casey Sullivan said.
In a suburb south of Chicago several homes were struck by what appeared to be chunks of meteorite. The falling objects pierced the roofs of two homes and the Park Forest fire station, but no one was injured, said Park Forest Police Capt. Francis DioGuardi.
"We have recovered several fallen objects," he said. "They look like rocks. One of them is the size of a shot put."
He said one chunk slightly damaged a home after landing on a residential street and breaking apart.
Meteorologist Greg Tipton in the Wilmington, Ohio, weather service office, said he had heard reports that some debris hit the ground north of Cincinnati.
"But we haven't nailed that down," he said.
What Is A Meteorite?
Huge chunks of rock-like objects (pictured, right) from the suspected meteorite damaged the roofs of two homes, but noone was injured.
National Weather Service offices in Indianapolis, Chicago and Wilmington, Ohio, reported receiving calls about the object.
An Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper spotted the meteor over Ross County. She told Columbus television station WCMH-TV that the flash was so low that it looked like the object hit the ground.
The Franklin County radio room received three calls about a bright flash of light. The Butler County sheriff's office north of Cincinnati said that they received 60 calls in 15 minutes. Most described a green and orange-colored flash in the sky in the northern part of the county.
Jim Kaplan with the Romeoville, Ill., office of the Weather Service said he was outside checking a rain gauge when he saw a flash of light in the sky.
"First, it got very bright and the sky lit up," Kaplan said. "You could see something streaking across the sky and breaking up into glowing chunks as it went from west to east."
"We've got no official classification as to what it was," Weather Service meteorologist Casey Sullivan said.
In a suburb south of Chicago several homes were struck by what appeared to be chunks of meteorite. The falling objects pierced the roofs of two homes and the Park Forest fire station, but no one was injured, said Park Forest Police Capt. Francis DioGuardi.
"We have recovered several fallen objects," he said. "They look like rocks. One of them is the size of a shot put."
He said one chunk slightly damaged a home after landing on a residential street and breaking apart.
Meteorologist Greg Tipton in the Wilmington, Ohio, weather service office, said he had heard reports that some debris hit the ground north of Cincinnati.
"But we haven't nailed that down," he said.
What Is A Meteorite?Copyright 2003 by ClickOnDetroit.com.
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