What Happened?
06-03-2004, 08:00 AM
#1
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SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- Bright flashes and sharp booms were reported in the skies over the Puget Sound area early Thursday, and aviation officials said a meteor may have been the source.
An earlier report on KIRO Radio that a meteorite might have hit near Chehalis, about 30 miles south of Olympia, turned out to be false, a University of Washington scientist who specializes in meteorites said.
Toby Smith, a lecturer in astronomy, said scientists were looking into the cause of the skybursts reported over a wide area about 2:40 a.m.
Witnesses along a 60-mile swath of the sound from near Tacoma to Whidbey Island and as far as 100 miles to the east near Ellensburg said the sky lit up brightly, and many also reported booming sounds as if from one or more explosions.
At Whidbey Island, Petty Officer Andrew Davis said he and other saw the skyburst.
"It made a pretty big bang," Davis said. "We thought it could maybe be a meteorite or something."
Officials at the National Weather Service ruled out any weather-related causes, and duty officers at the Federal Aviation Administration and the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station told The Associated Press they knew of no civilian or military airplane problems.
Civilian pilots reported seeing the flash from Ellensburg, east of the Cascade Range, said an FAA duty officer who did not give her name.
An earlier report on KIRO Radio that a meteorite might have hit near Chehalis, about 30 miles south of Olympia, turned out to be false, a University of Washington scientist who specializes in meteorites said.
Toby Smith, a lecturer in astronomy, said scientists were looking into the cause of the skybursts reported over a wide area about 2:40 a.m.
Witnesses along a 60-mile swath of the sound from near Tacoma to Whidbey Island and as far as 100 miles to the east near Ellensburg said the sky lit up brightly, and many also reported booming sounds as if from one or more explosions.
At Whidbey Island, Petty Officer Andrew Davis said he and other saw the skyburst.
"It made a pretty big bang," Davis said. "We thought it could maybe be a meteorite or something."
Officials at the National Weather Service ruled out any weather-related causes, and duty officers at the Federal Aviation Administration and the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station told The Associated Press they knew of no civilian or military airplane problems.
Civilian pilots reported seeing the flash from Ellensburg, east of the Cascade Range, said an FAA duty officer who did not give her name.
06-03-2004, 08:20 AM
#6
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Location: Mississippi
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Originally Posted by banzaitoyota' date='Jun 3 2004, 05:00 AM
Officials at the National Weather Service ruled out any weather-related causes, and duty officers at the Federal Aviation Administration and the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station told The Associated Press they knew of no civilian or military airplane problems.
