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Remarks |
On 13 April 2014, about 20:30 PDT, I observed a very large, very bright meteorite fall from the sky. My home sits high on a bluff in the southwest corner of Seattle Washington City limits, overlooking a wide sweep of Puget Sound (Salish Sea) from Bainbridge Island to an area near Tacoma Washington. Looking true west from my point of observation would go half way between the north end of Vashon Island, and the south end of Blake Island. It was quite dark outside but very clear. Very suddenly an unusually bright Meteorite fell absolutely straight down from overhead seemingly at right angles from the horizon. To describe its track for someone who did not know the exact location of my point of view, I would say if a line inscribed from the midpoint of Brace Point (in southwest corner of Seattle city limits) directly west over approximately the middle of Blake Island, it would closely approximate the point of the horizon that the meteorite fell directly toward. It left a wide streak of a tail and the meteorite itself was sizable (about half again as wide as the tail that trailed behind it). The meteorite “puffed” out just before reaching the horizon which was actually the outline of the Olympic mountain range. Having been very involved with sky observation most of my life (I am 85 now) I often observe the night sky. Since my boyhood I have done a great deal of sleeping outside having grown up camping out in the Puget Sound area observing night skies while going to sleep in a sleeping bag on the ground. As a professional pilot (pilot license at 16, 8 years Navy pilot, 30 years United Airlines pilot), I have been privileged to see many fascinating things in the night sky. The most amazing being the night of 17 Nov 1966 when I happened to be out (for a night cargo liner flight) during the height of that special Leonid Meteor Shower. It was breathtaking, exciting and a sight of a lifetime. If the meteor I saw (13 April 2014) was identifiable, a quick note of information regarding it, would be greatly appreciated. Dan Jessup (ebbyj@comcast.net) |
