[meteorite-list] Visitor from Space?

Pete Pete rsvp321 at hotmail.com
Sun Jan 20 10:47:40 EST 2008

 


Greetings, all,

Here's another one of those mysterious-hole-in-the-pond-ice stories.

Aside from the astronomer teacher discounting a meteorite because a "bright, burning ball" would have been observed, particularly profound is the last quote in the article.
(Reading so many of these, I've come to the conclusion that astronomers and geologists can't grasp the big picture of their fields until they seriously study meteoritics.)

Was that Gary K. Foote that was close to one of these reports last winter?
Did that one have perceived indications of splashes, too?

Cheers,
Pete


http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2008/01/20/4783340-sun.html



Visitor from space? Mysterious hole in pond sparks speculation of a meteorite
By RENATO GANDIA, SUN MEDIA


Aaron Soos measures yesterday the depth
of a mysterious hole that appeared in ice
half a metre thick on a pond at The Links
golf course in Spruce Grove.
(Renato Gandia, Sun Media)


Aaron Soos measures yesterday the depth of a mysterious hole that appeared in ice half a metre thick on a pond at The Links golf course in Spruce Grove. (Renato Gandia, Sun Media)

Spruce Grove residents woke up yesterday to a mysterious octopus-shaped hole in a frozen golf-course pond.

A hole about 1.5 metres in diameter was visible yesterday on the pond at The Links at Spruce Grove, along with at least 20 splash marks - the longest about six metres.

"It wasn't there (Friday)," said neighbour Tina Danyluk, whose house backs onto the pond.

She suspects it might have been a meteorite.

Whatever it was, it had to have followed a high trajectory based on "how the splash spread," Danyluk said.

Astronomer Martin Beech said he wouldn't rule out the possibility of a falling meteorite, but the marks perplexed him.

To punch through ice nearly half a metre thick, the meteor would have to be huge and would look like a bright burning ball with an associated sonic boom, said Beech, who teaches astronomy at Campion College at the University of Regina.

"Usually, it's quite a distinctive rumbling sound and people tend to notice that sound," Beech told Sun Media from Regina.

But no one reported seeing or hearing anything unusual.

"The whole pond was covered in snow (on Friday) until this morning when we saw the strange marks in the pond," said Danyluk.

Beech said he wasn't aware of any reports of fireballs in the area.

He also noted that such an object wouldn't normally melt thick ice.

"If it wasn't a meteorite, what the heck was it?" asked the baffled astronomer.

Danyluk's neighbour, Aaron Soos, said the marks were puzzling and the phenomenon had residents talking all day.

"If the pond was not frozen, we wouldn't even see those marks."

_________________________________________________________________

http://www.680news.com/news/national/article.jsp?content=n0121102A

Alta golf course neighbours dive into mystery hole, come up with balls
January 21, 2008 - 18:49

By: THE CANADIAN PRESS

EDMONTON - A couple of amateur sleuths determined to establish whether a
meteorite caused an octopus-shaped hole in a frozen golf course pond last week
went diving in the frigid waters Monday.

But the only proof they emerged with was evidence that a lot of people weren't
hitting very well on the 16th hole.

Aaron Soos and Derek Zienowicz used a chainsaw to cut through the ice that had
refrozen over the pond since last week's mysterious event, which many in the
area believed was the result of a bit of space debris hitting the Earth.

They put down a long pole with a rope tied to it, and Zienowicz - clad in
cold-water scuba-diving gear - jumped in.

But his puny little waterproof light was useless in the murky depths of the
pond, and when he felt around all he could find was a plethora of poorly aimed
golf balls - including the mud-splattered one he emerged from the water with.

The pair had set out on their adventure after hearing a meteorite as small as a
toaster could fetch up to $10,000.

But Chris Herd, who curates the province's meteorite collection at the
University of Alberta, said space rocks belong to landowners - regardless of who
finds them.

A golf course spokesman has already said there's no plan to go looking for
whatever may have crashed through the ice late last week.

Residents first noticed the hole on Saturday, and reports of a fireball in the
sky two nights before had piqued the interest of many.



Anyone can make a claim that they have found or own an authentic meteorite. It is entirely another matter to offer satisfactory proof of verification or classification from a Meteoritical Society approved institution. This page may contain links to suspect meteorites. In the opinion of this author, these suspect items may lack either proper verification, credible history or photo, or reasonable supposition to qualify as genuine. This does not mean that they are not meteorites, only 'suspect' in the opinion of this author.