A meteor in Wisconsin was seen streaking across the sky from west to east about 10 p.m. Wednesday. Anyone who saw it right away overwhelmed the emergency response phone lines saying they saw a blue/yellow fireball tracking from northwest to southeast. A meteorologist with the National Weather Service said the meteor exploded over Iowa County in southwest Wisconsin at about 24,000 feet, showering meteorites, beginning some forest fires. A window rattling sonic boom was reported by witnesses.
Data wanted from meteor in Wisconsin
If you happened to see the meteor in Wisconsin, the International Meteor Organization would like to hear from you. Info about where the meteor in Wisconsin might have landed is a pay day for The International Meteor Organization to help scientists discover any possible meteorites. Details about trajectory helps scientists track the orbit of the meteor in Wisconsin to possibly link it to comets or asteroids.
Meteor in Wisconsin video
The meteor was a natural object that originate in space. Entering the atmosphere causes friction to turn it into a brightly colored ball that was captured on film. If pieces of the meteor in Wisconsin really did reach the Earth’s surface, they officially became “meteorites.” In February 2010, about 1,086 meteorites were found after being reported as meteors. Well over 38,000 meteorites are found. Apollo astronauts also reported having found meteorites on the moon.
Is the meteor from Wisconsin now a meteorite?
The meteor in Wisconsin, although bigger and a lot more spectacular than most meteors, isn’t really exactly unique. The American Meteor Society Fireball Sightings Log: 2010 shows nearly daily reports of many meteor sightings from all around the country. Meteorite discoveries, nevertheless, are very rare. On Jan. 22, 2010, a meteorite struck the office building belonging to Dr. Frank Ciampi in Lorton, VA. The meteorite punched a hole within the roof and ripped up the floor about 10 feet from where Ciampi was working. Fragments of meteor rock the size of tennis balls were strewn around the room. Damage was light, and he probably doesn’t need a loan to fix it.
A meteor in Wisconsin was unlikely
According to astronomer Alan Harris on wikianswers.com, the chances of being hit and killed by a meteorite in a person’s lifetime are about the very same as Bill Gates needing a no fax payday loans no credit check: 1 in 700,000.” As a comparison,” he said, “you’re more likely to die in a fireworks accident; But what’s funny is, this is a slightly higher chance than being killed by a terrorist!” The last impact recorded on a human was in 1954, when Elaine Hodges of Sylacauga, Ala., was hit within the hip as she was napping on her couch. There is a Life magazine image of her showing the injury.
Meteor in Wisconsin not the first
The meteor in Wisconsin is not the first fireball to have an impact on the state. Reported by Space.com, scientists, years ago saw something different about rocks around Wavery, Wis., and concluded an ancient catastrophic event occurred. It is believed that a 650 to 700 foot meteorite hit the earth at speeds up to 67,500 mph. The alleged impact 450 million years ago let out more than 1,000 megatons of explosive energy, blasting a giant hole in a 4-mile area called Rock Elm about 70 miles east of Minneapolis, said three scientists in an article published within the Geological Society of America Bulletin. Over a long time, dirt, shale, and sediment filled the hole. The impact was blunted by a shallow sea covering Wisconsin at the time. You will find around 200 impact online websites worldwide that are known. The US only has a couple dozen of them. Scientists suggest that they occur only every few hundred thousand years, and only a couple dozen in the US. It is believed by numerous to only occur each and every few hundred years.
Sources
National Weather Service
The American Meteor Society
wikianswers.com
Space.com
