A-L-E-X Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/228468-US-Officials-Believe-Meteorite-Hit-Basking-Ridge-Lawn Township officials believe a small meteorite impacted the front lawn of a township home last Friday morning at about 11:35 a.m., creating a trench and spewing dirt and debris on the lawn, driveway and street near the residence. The residents were not home at the time, members of the Township Committee said when discussing the event at Tuesday night's meeting, although police later said the homeowner was on the property, but heard nothing. No one was injured, Township Mayor John Malay and other officials said. The address of the home has not been released. However, Township Committeeman John Carpenter said the home is in the southern end of the township. A trench created on a township lawn believed to have been created by a small meteorite. No One was injured, officials said. An official police report issued on Wednesday said police had responded at about 2:26 p.m. to a report of property damage to a residence located along the Mount Airy Road corridor, south of Lyons Road. Police said they are withholding the address for the privacy of the residents. Sgt. Scott Ward arrived at the home and observed a hole in the ground at the front of the property, police said. The hole was approximately seven feet long, four feet wide and 18 inches deep, according to the police report. In addition, dirt and rock debris were strewn approximately 100 feet from the hole, police said. Police said the homeowner stated that he had been home all day and did not see or hear anything that he believed may have caused the hole. The homeowner noticed the hole at about 2:15 p.m., according to police. Township home where the lawn is believed to have been hit by a small meteorite on Friday, May 6th. Neighboring residents were also questioned and none of those neighbors reported seeing or hearing anything out of the ordinary. The following agencies responded to investigate what may have caused the hole: Liberty Corner fire chief Peter Aprahamian, Public Service Electric & Gas and Jersey Central Power & Light. It was determined that no gas lines or underground electrical wires were in the area and therefore not responsible for creating the trench. Malay said no trace of a meteorite was found, but the material may have disintegrated upon impact. "It must have been traveling pretty darn fast," he said. The mayor said a seismograph based at the William Annin Middle School detected an "event" that day at about 11:35 a.m. In order to rule out the possibility that an explosive device was responsible for creating the hole, the New Jersey State Police Bomb Squad was contacted and responded to the residence. The NJSP Bomb Squad determined that no evidence of an explosive device was present. Based on tree damage near the hole and media reports of increased meteor shower activity that was present on the morning of May 6, it is believed that the hole may have been caused by a meteorite. Officials expressed relief that the flying object did not hit a house, or injure anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green tube Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 from what i hear, they have found no evidence of the meteorite. right now they don't know what caused the impact. . . . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyewall Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 THe homeowner should look for any pieces of it if it was a meteorite. They could be worth some cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OHSnow Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 They're saying now it wasn't caused by a meteorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-L-E-X Posted May 22, 2011 Author Share Posted May 22, 2011 They're saying now it wasn't caused by a meteorite. What are they saying caused it? Maybe something icy that melted right on impact? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Energy Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 What are they saying caused it? Maybe something icy that melted right on impact? Perhaps a US air flight dropped off its bathroom load? I've heard of this before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-L-E-X Posted May 22, 2011 Author Share Posted May 22, 2011 Perhaps a US air flight dropped off its bathroom load? I've heard of this before. I have too but I think that one was ruled out right away because the area in question wasn't under any flight path at that time. One of the other things I've heard was one of those atmospheric phenomenon that causes large chunks of ice to fall from a clear sky-- I forget what that's called. Or maybe even a small comet, but that would be a remote possibility (and it would have to be really small for it not to have been discovered before impact.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-L-E-X Posted May 22, 2011 Author Share Posted May 22, 2011 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megacryometeor A megacryometeor is a very large chunk of ice which, despite sharing many textural, hydro-chemical and isotopic features detected in large hailstones, is formed under unusual atmospheric conditions which clearly differ from those of the cumulonimbus cloud scenario (i.e. clear-sky conditions). They are sometimes called huge hailstones, but do not need to form in thunderstorms. Jesus Martinez-Frias, a planetary geologist at the Center for Astrobiology in Madrid, pioneered research into megacryometeors in January 2000 after ice chunks weighing up to 6.6 pounds (3.0 kg) rained on Spain out of cloudless skies for ten days.Contents [hide] 1 Mass 2 Formation 3 References 4 External links [edit] Mass More than 50 megacryometeors have been recorded since the year 2000. They vary in mass between 0.5 kilograms (1.1 lb) to several tens of kilograms. One in Brazil weighed in at more than 50 kilograms (110 lb).[1] [edit] Formation The process that creates megacryometeors is not fully understood, mainly in relation with the atmospheric dynamics necessary to produce them. They may have a similar mechanism of formation to that producing hailstones.[2] Scientific studies show that their composition matches normal tropospheric rainwater for the areas in which they fall. In addition, megacryometeors display textural variations of the ice and hydro-chemical and isotopic heterogeneity, which evidence a complex formation process in the atmosphere.[3][4][5] It is known that they do not come from airplane toilets because the large chunks of ice that occasionally do fall from airliners are distinctly blue due to the disinfectant used. However, others have speculated that these ice chunks must have fallen from aircraft fuselages[2] after plain water ice accumulating on those aircraft through normal atmospheric conditions has simply broken loose. However, similar events occurred prior to the invention of aircraft.[6][7] Studies indicate that fluctuations in tropopause, associated with hydration of the lower stratosphere and stratospheric cooling, can be related with their formation.[3] detailed micro-Raman spectroscopic study made it possible to place the formation of the megacryometeors within a particular range of temperatures (−10 to −20 °C).[8] They are sometimes confused with meteors because they can leave small impact craters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-L-E-X Posted May 22, 2011 Author Share Posted May 22, 2011 Holy ****-- did you read that Rob? A 110 pound chunk of ice fell in Brazil? That would probably be enough to kill an elephant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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