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Remarks |
I was driving southbound on Interstate 270 in St.Louis, just before the exit for Olive. The meteor immediately caught my eye, to the left of straight ahead. Its trajectory was east to west, at about a 45 degree angle headed down. As I previously mentioned, it appeared to almost "slow down" before exploding into a fireball and continuing along its original trajectory. There was no fragmentation, but continued to appear large and bright enough before disappearing below the horizon to have possibly reached the surface of the earth. As I was driving, with the windows up, I do not know if it produced any noise. I have however, witnessed meteors that produced fireballs in the past, and I have never seen a "fireball meteor" that produced any noise. It would be my best guess there was no concussion to accompany last night's event. What did make this fireball different from any I have previously witnessed is how low it appeared in the sky, and how bright it continued to be before I lost it on the horizon behind the on-coming overpass for Olive Blvd. I know how deceiving a meteor can be (i.e. it may appear to be near you when in reality it made landfall 100 miles from you) but this one was large enough and bright enough that I believe a small piece (maybe fist-sized) could have impacted somewhere near south St.Louis county by the Mississippi River. Would be my educated guess this was most likely a stony meteor, and was of decent size before exploding. It was odd that no fragmentation occurred after exploding (at least none that I witnessed) It appeared to just ignite, obtaining a significant brightness, and continued along its original path. I have been "watching the skies" (meteor showers,other astronomical events, etc, etc....) for over 30 years. Please feel free to contact me at the number provided should you have any additional questions. Thank you. |
