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Hundreds Spot Fireballs In Colorado, Nearby States

pingpong writes "Hundreds of people in Colorado and 7 surrounding states have reported seeing "fireballs" in the night sky. They are described as being 10 to 15 times larger than a normal shooting star and bluish in color. Two people even claimed to see one land, but it has yet to be found. The Daily Camera is reporting it online here." Field reports invited.

487 comments

  1. Explanation needed by Drunken+Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I think this guy owes us an explanation. Does he know something we should know?

    --
    Have you been stalked by Seth today?
    1. Re:Explanation needed by Stormie · · Score: 3, Funny

      That guy? I reckon this guy owes us an explanation!

    2. Re:Explanation needed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Those guys? I think this guy owes us an explanations!

  2. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  3. UFO's? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    And i was really really looking forward to being probed.

    S1R_Spankal0t

    1. Re:UFO's? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      "And I was really really looking forward to being probed."

      So you are that goatse guy. Quit promoting your site here!

  4. DO NOT LOOK AT THE PRETTY LIGHTS! by cmeans · · Score: 5, Funny
    It's the first stage of the invasion...first you watch the pretty lights...then you go blind...then the triffids eat you.

    Keep salt water handy...it's your only defense! It melts them.

    1. Re:DO NOT LOOK AT THE PRETTY LIGHTS! by Buck2 · · Score: 1

      Damn triffids. I go out of my way to step on them.

      --

      As my father lik@(munch munch)... ....
    2. Re:DO NOT LOOK AT THE PRETTY LIGHTS! by saskboy · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'll get the Triffid guns, and you find a truck load of toilet paper, and some hot Blind Chicks. Then we should retreat, and repopulate the Earth.
      Damn Fireballs.

      --
      Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
    3. Re:DO NOT LOOK AT THE PRETTY LIGHTS! by Moonshadow · · Score: 2

      I hear they're sodium-based lifeforms. I think water should work well, too.

    4. Re:DO NOT LOOK AT THE PRETTY LIGHTS! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Keep salt water handy...it's your only defense! It melts them.

      Spot the person who's never read Wyndham's book! The water thing was only in the film, probably bacause they thought the public would get scared if the film followed the book.

    5. Re:DO NOT LOOK AT THE PRETTY LIGHTS! by billcopc · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Bill's guide to making Hot Blind Chicks:

      For each individual serving you will need

      1 - Chick
      1 - Flash grenade
      1 - large oven

      Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Lead the Chick into a dark room, throw in the flash grenade, close the door and cover for 2 minutes. Remove the chick from the room and throw into oven until desired hotness is reached. Season to taste. Voila, hot blind chick.

      --
      -Billco, Fnarg.com
    6. Re:DO NOT LOOK AT THE PRETTY LIGHTS! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damn the Fireballs, Full Speed Ahead!

    7. Re:DO NOT LOOK AT THE PRETTY LIGHTS! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ovens can dry them out and make them stiff. Steamers work much better.

  5. All we need now... by Drakker · · Score: 3, Funny

    All we need now are signs in random fields and we can start to panic.

    Arm those water guns!

    1. Re:All we need now... by gl4ss · · Score: 4, Funny

      1. buy a 20 meters long rope
      2. buy a 2x4 plank(piece of wood)
      3. plot some nice forms on paper with harp
      4. do some nightshift work at fields
      5. ?????
      6. go looting after mob breaks downtown after going into panic(==PROFIT).

      (all the comments i saw for this very marked funny or trying to be one, i thought not to be different)

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    2. Re:All we need now... by rhost89 · · Score: 1

      No he was talking about the really disturbing signs.... like eat at joes, or got milk :)

      --
      I will bend your mind with my spoon
  6. Roswell? by yeoua · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Nah, those aren't fireballs... they were just downed weather balloons...

    Move along, nothing to see here.

    1. Re:Roswell? by ACorvus · · Score: 1

      Urm... how is that offtopic?

      They could be weather balloons ignited by alien discharge-weapon fire after all.

      Surely ball lightning is another candidate? Although it's never been /properly/ reproduced in the lab there are several anecdotal accounts of people being either killed or shocked by balls of what appears to be ionised and charged gas. My godmother even saw one float straight through a closed window, but luckily it turned and dissipated itself in the wall.

      It's still a really contentious area, but not much research is being done on it (except for the wacko free-energy guys on Keelynet who wouldn't recognise peer review even if it hit them squarely in the bollocks). I have a tesla coil mind you - just need a few more Amps on my mains supply to try my hand!

      --
      -- Sig Sig Sputnik
  7. Dun dun dun. Durda durda. Dun Dun Dun by jasoncart · · Score: 0

    Cue spooky war of the worlds music

  8. photos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Expected to see some photos from The Daily Camera!

  9. fireball by primus_sucks · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Greatest spell ever!

    1. Re:fireball by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep, aliens throwing at us with their old Quantum hard drives

  10. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  11. weatherballoons by ComaVN · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's gotta be weather balloons. It's always weatherballoons. Big, fiery, exploding weatherballoons

    --
    Be wary of any facts that confirm your opinion.
    1. Re:weatherballoons by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's gotta be weather balloons. It's always weatherballoons. Big, fiery, exploding weatherballoons

      I hate that weather-balloon that keeps ubducting Aunt Laura and poking her in the brain.

    2. Re:weatherballoons by Loligo · · Score: 4, Funny

      >I hate that weather-balloon that keeps ubducting
      >Aunt Laura and poking her in the brain

      Her brain?

      Aren't they taking kind of the long way around to get to it?

      -l

    3. Re: weatherballoons by Black+Parrot · · Score: 1


      > I hate that weather-balloon that keeps ubducting Aunt Laura and poking her in the brain.

      Your Aunt Laura told me a different version of the story.

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    4. Re:weatherballoons by nizo · · Score: 1

      Wow, I just figured ebay had started selling sodium with express shipping (see previous slashdot story here).

    5. Re:weatherballoons by smead · · Score: 2, Funny

      or swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and reflected the light from Venus.

    6. Re:weatherballoons by VivianC · · Score: 5, Funny

      >I hate that weather-balloon that keeps ubducting
      >Aunt Laura and poking her in the brain

      Her brain?

      Aren't they taking kind of the long way around to get to it?


      Obviously, you don't know Aunt Laura.....

      --
      Viv

      Gmail invites for ip
    7. Re:weatherballoons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hate that weather-balloon that keeps ubducting Aunt Laura and poking her in the brain.

      Perhaps she should stay out of the way of that sharp, pointy aft signal antenna when it passes her way. I keep writing letters to the weather service departments about that safety hazard, but they never fix it.

    8. Re:weatherballoons by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      They do say that the brain is the most sensitive erogenous zone. Perhaps the 'weather balloon' in question took that a smidgen too literally.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    9. Re:weatherballoons by hagar� · · Score: 1

      It's gotta be weather balloons. It's always weatherballoons. Big, fiery, exploding weatherballoons

      Rogue Weather Ballons mixed with swamp gas, which is focusing light from nearby venus and the moon into fiery balls. The light is then refracted by pollution, causing psychotropic flashing sequences which cause mass hallucination of small aliens gang probing you in the night. Everyone knows this.
      Now move along civilian, nothing to see here.;-)

      --
      Insert something insightful here, or I'll insert something painful there.
  12. must be by doubtless · · Score: 5, Funny

    one of those ships from Quaoar ..

    --
    geek page at KY speaks
    1. Re:must be by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      must be one of those ships from Quaoar

      No, those never got off the ground because the name in the inter-planetary flight plan logs was always being mistyped.

  13. Could it be? by oldmacdonald · · Score: 5, Funny

    Could it have anything to do with the three and a half pounds of sodium in the other story I just saw?

    1. Re:Could it be? by echosilex · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Sodium results in a yellow color upon burning. For a blue color, you'd burn copper compounds.

      Here's an interesting thing to try--
      Stick a couple of old forks in a pickle with the handles pointing away from each other. Split a power cord down the middle and attach some alligator clips to the cut off part. Attach the clips to the forks and put the plug in the wall. After a few seconds, you'll see the pickel glow yellow between where the forks are stuck in the pickle. It's pretty neat to watch.

    2. Re:Could it be? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought copper burned green?

    3. Re:Could it be? by echosilex · · Score: 4, Informative

      Cu by itself burns blue/green, but CuCl2 is used to make the blue color seen in fireworks. Other copper compounds would work, too, but copper(II) chloride is the most common.

    4. Re:Could it be? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Oh my god, LOL!

    5. Re:Could it be? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      could be copper or barium based as well

    6. Re:Could it be? by Loligo · · Score: 5, Informative

      A quick Google for electric pickle turns up some pictures and even movies here.

      Along the same lines as the eletric pickle (but totally irrelevant to the rest of the topic), there's always the sparking grape trick.

      -l

    7. Re:Could it be? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Along the same lines as the eletric pickle (but totally irrelevant to the rest of the topic), there's always the sparking grape trick.

      It works better if you burn a wood splint, and put it in the microwave while smoldering. You just have to be careful not to burn the top of your microwave. Those little blobs last a long time up there.

    8. Re:Could it be? by Yarn · · Score: 2

      ISTR that the DEC Alpha's EV bus protocol was named after 'Electric Vlastic' where Vlastic is a brand of pickles. I guess their engineers liked doing this too.

      --
      -Yarn - Rio Karma: Excellent
    9. Re:Could it be? by brianboru · · Score: 1

      CU is on fire?!?!

      Wait... does this mean that the cornhuskers might still have a chance this year?

      Nah... probably not.

    10. Re:Could it be? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Informative?

      If you say so.......

    11. Re:Could it be? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Stick a couple of old forks in a pickle...

      Just make sure you do this OUTSIDE. You leave it going for a while and it starts to smoke. Burnt pickle smells nasty as hell.

      (it also works with a couple of large nails if you don't have any spare forks)

    12. Re:Could it be? by GutterBunny · · Score: 2

      For even further entertainment. Take a single Cheetos and put in the microwave. Watch the fun. (bzzrapp)

      --
      managers...why god invented purgatory
    13. Re:Could it be? by Darby · · Score: 2

      // I want a 'vi' mode for my moz textedit boxes //

      Me too. I mentioned this before. Shouldn't this be fairly simple to do?

    14. Re:Could it be? by jrwyant · · Score: 1

      Second the motion! All in favor...

    15. Re:Could it be? by majestyk2000 · · Score: 1

      My co-worker and I did this, and all it did was make us look like idiots staring at the microwave. We used Cheese-Doodles, granted, but what effect was I supposed to see?

    16. Re:Could it be? by GutterBunny · · Score: 2

      I don't know about cheese doodles, but i've been able to get a single cheeto to start sparking in the microwave. Some microwaves just go beserk.

      And if that doesn't work, i've been told by FritoLay people that the best cheeto is a warm cheeto.

      --
      managers...why god invented purgatory
  14. The end is Nigh! by euxneks · · Score: 1, Funny

    Quick! A giant meteor is speeding towards the earth! Send Bruce Willis and a couple of Oil drillers to save the world!!

    --
    in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
    1. Re:The end is Nigh! by rem1313 · · Score: 1

      Quick! A giant meteor is speeding towards the earth! Send Bruce Willis and a couple of Oil drillers to save the world!! Don't forget Liv Tyler!

    2. Re:The end is Nigh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you crazy? Keep her here! :-)

    3. Re:The end is Nigh! by Gehenna_Gehenna · · Score: 2, Funny
      NO!!! Do not send Liv!

      We need her on earth for the last LOR movie and to bear my childr... er...


      Damn.

      --

  15. Are these... by maddugan · · Score: 1

    ...fragments from the damaged space shuttle cam?

  16. Better story by jasoncart · · Score: 5, Informative

    Over at the Denver Post

    1. Re:Better story by jpaz · · Score: 1
      Best quote from the Denver Post article:

      It was 1 to 2 inches in diameter as viewed through his windshield, Golding said, with about a 3-inch long tail.

      Some fireball, huh?

    2. Re:Better story by Afrosheen · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Considering the distance away the meteor had to be to appear 1-2 inches in diameter, that's pretty damn big and significant. I'd say the usual meteor diameter is a few millimeters at best.

      The weird thing is, I work with a guy that takes the bus every morning. He waits for the bus pretty early when the sun is just about to rise. He told me all about some super beautiful fireball he saw streaking across the sky about 2 weeks ago. I calmly explained that it was just a meteor but he kept insisting that it was different, he'd never seen one like this before. He went on and on about it, how it was a bright blue streak, etc. At the time, I wrote it off, but now it seems to be a phenomenon.

      Guess there was relevance in his story after all. He'll love to hear about this story :)

    3. Re:Better story by Rogerborg · · Score: 2, Insightful

      With an interesting point: "Around 7:15 p.m., law-enforcement dispatchers began receiving reports from most corners of the state"

      Granted that these people probably had good intentions, but it does demonstrate how arrogant we are, assuming that anything so big and showy must be an event generated by or concerning humans. We cannot accept that the universe does plenty all by itself, and doesn't really care about whether we're watching or not.

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
    4. Re:Better story by SEWilco · · Score: 3, Informative
      The usual meteor is a few millimeters, but its plasma plume is much larger. You can see an aircraft strobe at 30,000 feet (that's only 6 miles) but a meteor is much further and has to be brighter than that.

      The AMS has a FAQ on the subject which includes brightness info. It also points out that nickel tends to produce the green color.

      Also, there probably is a correlation between your bus-waiting guy and these other sightings. If you're in the northern hemisphere...there is more darkness right now than a few weeks ago. Easier to see meteors.

    5. Re:Better story by Sn4xx0r · · Score: 1

      Another site that mentioned these fireballs (space.com? nytimes? don't remember) also said that some people thought it was a crashing/exploding airplane. If that is true it is a lot less arrogant to call the police. Granted, I don't know if all the calls were about airplanes, but if I ever see anything that looks like a disaster or terrorism I will call the police, and not rely on the universe to sort itself.

      --
      Got brain?
    6. Re:Better story by Brainless · · Score: 1

      I actually have seen two in my life here in Colorado. Once was about 5-6 years ago in a meteor shower and once this past Monday night. Both were a bright blue-greenish color and were amazing. The one a while back was accompanied by a loud boom (possibly sonic boom?). Not sure what the noise was back then, and nobody believed me when I tried to tell them so I couldn't get an answer out of em.

    7. Re:Better story by Brainless · · Score: 2, Informative

      http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/showers/eta_c etids.html

    8. Re:Better story by susano_otter · · Score: 2

      We cannot what? Would you be willing to clarify your point? I honestly don't understand the meaning of your remarks.

      --

      Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.

    9. Re:Better story by Syncdata · · Score: 2, Funny

      Granted that these people probably had good intentions, but it does demonstrate how arrogant we are

      Actually in my mind, it demonstrates how little people think things through. What exactly are the police going to do about balls of flame in the sky? Arrest them?

      Concerned Citizen:Fireballs officer! In the Sky!
      Dispatch:right. I think you want nasa. Or the air force. We'd handle it ourselves, but our Space Cruiser is in the shop. On Quaoar

      --
      "Inattention makes clowns of us all" -Bean
    10. Re:Better story by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 2

      "We cannot accept that the universe does plenty all by itself, and doesn't really care about whether we're watching or not."

      Uh... what?

    11. Re:Better story by rickwood · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I never told anyone about the metor I heard explode during a party one October night about 10 years ago. I figured that no one would believe me. For years I thought I must have had an "auditory halucination" or some such. (It was a hell of a party.)

      Then while I was watching Discovery one night about a year ago I heard an astronomer talk about exactly what I saw: A fireball that burst into a shower of sparks with an audible explosion. It's called a bolide.

      Google Search on Metor & Bolide

      xrefer bolide entry

    12. Re:Better story by Stephen+Samuel · · Score: 2
      ... some people thought it was a crashing/exploding airplane. If that is true it is a lot less arrogant to call the police.

      How would you like it if the airplane/spaceship you were in crashed in the middle of nowhere and the only two people who saw it said to themselves "Don't call it in -- It may just be a meteor, and we'll look stupid".

      Actually, I believe that even if it is 'just a meteor', astronomers use the calls in to police to help pinpoint if and where the object actually touched the ground.

      --
      Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
    13. Re:Better story by Vulture_ · · Score: 1
      Ever consider that the police have slightly more clout with NASA and the Air Force than Joe Random does?

      Concerned Citizen: Is this the Air Force?
      Air Force Guy: Yes...
      Concerned Citizen: There are fireballs in the sky over my house!
      Air Force Guy: See a doctor. *click*

      Concerned Citizen: Is this the police?
      Dispatch: Yes...
      Concerned Citizen: There are fireballs in the sky over my house!
      Dispatch: *looks out window* I see them too. Thanks. We'll handle it. *click*
      Dispatch: This is Officer Random of the Foo Bar Police Department. There are fireballs in the sky above our city. I demand that you guys get out here and investigate!
      Air Force Guy: You got it officer. Thanks. *click*

      --

      The only way the typical /.er can pick up a chick is with a forklift. -- AC

  17. Obviously.... by jimson · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Can anyone say Sodium??

    1. Re:Obviously.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or Sodium Insane's Weapons of Mass Destruction...

  18. There was a time... by km790816 · · Score: 2, Funny

    There was a time in my life when I would have been excited by this. ...but then I saw 'Signs'.

    I'm going to go home and start filling up water glasses.

    1. Re:There was a time... by grumpygrodyguy · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Go see 'Spirited Away', you've earned it.

      --
      The government has a defect: it's potentially democratic. Corporations have no defect: they're pure tyrannies. -Chomsky
    2. Re:There was a time... by Anenga · · Score: 1

      Signs was the scariest movie I've seen in my life. When it's 1 in the morning and I go to get some water, and come back to my pitch dark room with the window open I arm my glass of water like a weapon.

      One time I spilled it on the floor when I heard something jump up at my window, but it was only my dog.

    3. Re:There was a time... by domninus.DDR · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I agree. Spirited away rocks, even if youre not an anime fan. The best are the animated dust mites ^^.

    4. Re:There was a time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just to be pedantic... your sig is a contradiction. Legalising and Decriminalising are different.

      You normal programming will now continue...

  19. Witness by dargaud · · Score: 5, Interesting
    As a mountain climber I often sleep out and high up, so have an excellent view of shooting stars. But the weirdest of all looks like that report. It was 54 years ago in central Italy, driving at night on a desert mountain road. I saw a fiery fireball in the sky, moving slowly from left to right.

    I had the time to: understand (maybe) what it was, wake up my wife, stop the car, get out an look. Total time maybe 20 seconds. The 'object' was moving slowly, spewing green flames and eaving a long lasting orange trail behind. Trajectory was more or less horizontal. It disapeared in a flash. I tried to listen but there wasn't any noise besides the cooling car engine.

    --
    Non-Linux Penguins ?
    1. Re:Witness by addaon · · Score: 2

      Nah, that wasn't a fireball. That's just an alien spaceship. The engine leaves a trail.

      --

      I've had this sig for three days.
    2. Re:Witness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but you can hear the engines on my ship, from at least 30 miles away... ...maybe 45 miles after I installed that coffee-can-poki-pipe... ...and the 30 lbs of vinyl stickers... ...and that huge aluminum wing...

    3. Re:Witness by AnotherShep · · Score: 5, Funny

      "I saw a fiery fireball in the sky..."

      That's nothing bad. It's those icy fireballs you have to watch out for...

    4. Re:Witness by jsse · · Score: 1

      Total time maybe 20 seconds. The 'object' was moving slowly, spewing green flames and eaving a long lasting orange trail behind. Trajectory was more or less horizontal. It disapeared in a flash. I tried to listen but there wasn't any noise besides the cooling car engine.

      Evidently that it was a...weather balloon. :)

    5. Re:Witness by Schwarzchild · · Score: 1

      54 years ago??? Gadzooks! You must be really old!

      --

      "sweet dreams are made of this..."

    6. Re:Witness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      54 years ago and you driving?
      You must be in the 70's now.
      On your web site, you look younger...

      Maybe, 5 years ago?

    7. Re:Witness by sniggly · · Score: 5, Informative

      with an almost horizontal trajectory that can happen, the object would be streaking through the medium layers of the atmosphere, all the while evaporating its layers until it expires in a puff or blows up because of too much heat. There's no sound because the explosion could happen quite far away in what is a relatively thin medium so there isn't much sound. I've seen one explode too and waited for what in my mind would be a big booming sound, but nothing came.

      --
      Of those to whom much is given, much is required.
    8. Re:Witness by Afrosheen · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I saw something unbelievable one time, true story. About 5 friends and I and an old girlfriend were hiking one night at Turner Falls. We sat on top of this cave and watched the stars since it was such a clear night and we were accustomed to seeing just a few stars in the city. One person noticed a darker star that was moving. We got excited and everyone looked for it, and saw it. It was probably a satellite because it was moving in a straight line.

      Here's where the craziness comes in. The more we looked at the sky, the more people started to see more satellites. In all there were probably 8 we could watch moving, all in vector paths from the horizon to some point in the sky. That point ended up being nearly directly overhead from us.

      Once the dark stars reached a central point, they formed a slowly rotating circle. None of us could believe what we were seeing and we were all scared shitless. None of us could look away either because it was so unreal.

      After less than ten minutes, we saw clouds blowing in hard from the south. The wind probably hit 20mph in a matter of minutes and we decided it was probably a good idea to leave. The dark stars were still circling overhead when the clouds fully obscured our view of the sky.

      We drove fast and hard all the way home and nobody said much of anything. We beat the storm home and it was fairly clear outside except for the clouds coming up from the south where we had been. I don't know if anyone else besides myself has told the story but I don't blame them if they haven't. It sounds like bullshit to anyone who hears it, and it still freaks me out to this day.

    9. Re:Witness by Frodo2002 · · Score: 1

      I saw a fireball in Cape Town once. It was moving fast though, and gave off a white light. There is no doubt in my mind that it was a meteor. I actually heard a crackling noise after it wizzed overhead and broke up into lots of little pieces. And no, it was not a firework.

    10. Re:Witness by mr+breakfast · · Score: 0

      You should post that over to fortean times - they love that kind of stuff.

    11. Re:Witness by Angram · · Score: 0

      What were you smoking and/or drinking? LSD flashback perhaps? Yeah, I saw stuff like that when I was like 8 in a car, but then I was pretty tired and sick, so it was more likely an overactive imagination or memory of a dream.

      --

      GL
    12. Re:Witness by Angram · · Score: 1

      Perhaps you saw some test planes? Ever think of that, bub? They do things like fly and circle! There might even be more than one in a formation!

      --

      GL
    13. Re:Witness by oaklybonn · · Score: 1

      I saw one as well, about 10 years ago. I was working in Berkeley, CA at the time and had just left work around 5pm to get some coffee. (I was still sober ;-) and it was still daylight.)
      Looking up from Shattuck towards the berkely hills, an orangish fireball, about the size of a dime held at arms length, with a tail that stretched about 8 inches behind (using the dime size perspective.) It was hard to tell just how far away it was. It was travelling almost horizontal, a bit of a downward angle and after about 10 seconds from when I first saw it, it disappeared behind the hills.
      I was a bit freaked out, since it looked like it must have been a truly local event. I found an astrophysicist (You can't swing a dead hippie in berkeley without hitting one, you know) who confirmed that it was probably a small meteor glancing off the atmosphere. They happen rarely enough that they don't frequently get cought on film, and are not likely to ever make it to earth, instead skipping back into space.
      b dup dup mul or

    14. Re: Witness by zbuffered · · Score: 2

      I live in Colorado Springs, home of several military bases, and, of course, NORAD. I see black helicopters flying 150 feet above my house about once a week. Sonic booms here and there. Normal stuff.
      I was playing video games late, late at night about 3 years ago, when all of a sudden the sky went from pitch black to orange. I didn't have a good view, but for about five seconds it was light as day, only more orange. Shadows moved on the ground. Then it faded back to night.
      I turned on the radio, and after a song ended, the DJ came on and said, "KILO. We rock so hard, we turn night into day." Apparently it was a meteor, but has anyone seen one so bright? I mean, I can understand it casting light on the ground, but we're talking bright as day here. And orange, distinctly orange.

      --
      Synergy is your friend
    15. Re:Witness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I had a similar experience.

      You sure you hadn't ingested lsd?

    16. Re:Witness by mosch · · Score: 5, Funny
      Yah, same sort of thing happened to me and my friends in November 2001, during the Leonids.

      We had found a mirror-flat lake in the country and we were stumbling around watching the shooting stars, when suddenly we appeared to be on an ancient spacecraft. I looked up and saw the stars reorganizing themselves into various patterns, the constellations drawing themselves out to create realistic images.

      We continued this strange, and very cold, journey throughout the evening, until my socks turned into meat.

      Very few people believe me when I tell this story. Until I mention the presence of some extremely potent LSD.

    17. Re:Witness by JordoCrouse · · Score: 0, Troll

      I saw something unbelievable one time, true story. About 5 friends and I and an old girlfriend

      Why should you destroy a perfectly believeable story about mysterious lights in the sky with a comment like that. Everybody knows that /.ers don't have girlfriends.

      --
      Do you have Linux and a DotPal? Click here now!
    18. Re:Witness by Afrosheen · · Score: 2

      I never said they were UFO's or aliens or whatever, could've been anything. To this day I still have no idea, but the sudden weather change was just way too coincidental. Like I said in my original post, I hardly ever mention it because people think it's a bullshit story. Guess I should've kept it to myself.

    19. Re:Witness by Afrosheen · · Score: 2

      This was a long time ago, pre-slashdot. Circa 1993 I believe.

    20. Re:Witness by Gerry+Gleason · · Score: 3, Insightful
      It's interesting how different people react to a story like this. Some have to find or at least suggest what it is, others assume it must be something way out of the ordinary. Always more of a map of your own mind than anything 'out there'.

      You have to keep an open mind, or you are going to miss important phenomena. The brain/mind always tries to put perceptions into a category, and it is even hard to make accurate observations when you don't know what to expect, but expectation shape the observation. Just one of those strange loops that can't be eliminated completely.

    21. Re:Witness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ever think of that, bub?

      Hehe, you said "bub". I knew a guy who actually used that word out loud in a sentence, but he liked to sit on the leather couch and watch wrestling in his underwear so I didn't believe him.

    22. Re:Witness by naasking · · Score: 2

      Please remain seated. The Men In Black will be over momentarily.

    23. Re:Witness by Malto · · Score: 1

      I'm fairly sure I've seen one of these fireballs here in central Arkansas. I may have seen two, but the second one I didn't get a good enough glimpse of. The first one I saw farily well one night when I was sitting out on campus. It's nothing like something that'd last for 20 seconds. The one I saw lasted maybe 1 and a half seconds. It was about 3x as long as it was wide and it was probably 10-20x as wide as a regular shooting star. The weird thing about it is that it looked like some dust or something like that. It wasn't a big chunk, more like what a snowball looks like when crushed. I figured I saw the clouds or something, but then I realized that it was completely clear. That was intersting.

    24. Re:Witness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LSD might have been involved, but group hallucinations and extreme weather changes are hard to blame on a drug.

    25. Re:Witness by ifreakshow · · Score: 1

      A very similar thing happened to me. I too was hiking in the country when what I thought were stars began moving in a circle. They spun faster and faster. soon they were a blur of white light. Next individual stars rocketed out of the formation and hung suspened in the sky. When the spinning finally stopped they spelt out: "All your Base are Belong to Us" I have never been the same since.

    26. Re: Witness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Something similar happend to me once. I live in an area where there are lots of military bases and black helicopters that fly 149 feet above my house. The MJ12 central facility is also about 5 minutes away (the Luminati complex is further down the road).

      I was playing video games late at night about 2 years ago when all of a sudden the sky went from pitch black to orange to green to blue to red to purple - all of the colours of the rainbow! I didn't have a good view, but for about six seconds it was light as day, only more fruity and somewhat gayer. Shadows moved on the ground then it faded back to night.

      I turned on the radio and after the currently playing Boy George song ended, the DJ came on and said, "KOCK. We rock so hard, we turn night into gay." Apparently it was a flying, homosexual, tie-dye shirt wearing, atomic unicorn, but has anyone seen one so flaming? I mean, I can understand it casting light on the ground, but we're talking bright as gay here. And queer, distinctly queer.

    27. Re:Witness by hitzroth · · Score: 2

      You mean comets?

      Don't you think we're beyond the middle ages where they thought these things were harbingers of doom?

      --
      In mathematics, one does not understand things, one merely gets used to them.
      --VonNeumann
    28. Re:Witness by AnotherShep · · Score: 1

      You mean comets?

      Yes, but saying something like "It's those comets you have to watch out for" would have been pointless...

      Don't you think we're beyond the middle ages where they thought these things were harbingers of doom?

      Dude, in a few hundred years, we'll be the middle ages.

    29. Re:Witness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Those were weather baloons!

    30. Re:Witness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just one of those strange loops that can't be eliminated completely.

      Yes it can, it's called enlightenment.

      Have a day.

    31. Re:Witness by Milikki · · Score: 1

      I saw this particular event. :)

      I was sitting at the intersection of Flintridge and Academy in Colorado Springs at a stop light when I saw a greenish streak across the sky (more like down, looked like about a 80* angle). My first thought was "hmm, copper".

      It was pretty cool. Looked a lot like one of those Magnesium fireworks you see at 4th of July shows. Well, except it was green, not white.

      Kevin

    32. Re: Witness by Sibelius · · Score: 1

      I'm so sorry I posted earlier before I could spend some mod points on this one. A truly hilarious gem.

    33. Re:Witness by Stephen+Samuel · · Score: 2
      I saw something unbelievable one time, true story. About 5 friends and I and an old girlfriend
      ..... Everybody knows that /.ers don't have girlfriends.

      Note that he said "an old" girlfriend (as in Ex-but-still-friends). Many of us have those.

      --
      Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
  20. Meteor Showers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is slightly interesting news. Meteor showers look like this. The only strange part about this occurrence is that it isn't occurring during a meteor shower. (This is pretty much the conclusion of the article.)

    BTW if any of you have a change, go see a meteor shower when they come around. It's quite amazing.

    1. Re:Meteor Showers by Dalcius · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I found it odd that they said it happened at almost the exact same time on both nights and each night it was heading in a different direction.

      Being in Colorado, if on the chance it was our government playing with a new toy, I wouldn't be surprised. IIRC, Nevada, offshore California and the Rocky Mountains and parts of Colorado are prime testing areas.

      There are some pretty crazy ideas out there for propulsion, however I know of none that would create anything this big in such a shape (tail only 2-3x longer than width one person stated in the Denver Post article). This also doesn't explain descriptions of "chunks falling off" of the fireball.

      I have yet to see "Signs." I suppose in this case that's a good thing. =)

      --
      ~Dalcius
      Rome wasn't burnt in a day.
    2. Re:Meteor Showers by nicklott · · Score: 1
      strange, there was one in the UK last week (several comments link to it so I won't), and one that landed in russia too.

      No one seems to be linking these in any way, but they are quite rare events. There's a fair chance the UK one was also the russian one, but that's at least 3 fireballs within a week. Is that a coincidence?

    3. Re:Meteor Showers by Melantha_Bacchae · · Score: 2

      nicklott wrote:

      > strange, there was one in the UK last week
      > (several comments link to it so I won't), and
      > one that landed [bbc.co.uk] in russia
      > [cosmiverse.com] too.
      >
      > No one seems to be linking these in any way, but
      > they are quite rare events. There's a fair
      > chance the UK one was also the russian one, but
      > that's at least 3 fireballs within a week. Is
      > that a coincidence?

      Probably not. The Draconid meteor shower is expected for yesterday and today. The Draconids are known to storm on occasion. Fireballs are kinda rare, but two recent Leonid storms featured fireballs (1998 and 2001). Draco is a very northern constellation, so I would think the northern hemisphere sightings you give could be connected.

      Hopefully, it is nothing to worry about. King Ghidora appeared the cover (upper right corner) and the back of the centerfold of Gamepro Magazine, and will be in two games enjoying global release at the end of the month. He's probably just showing off. Enjoy the fireworks and pray he doesn't make an appearance as the King of Terror or Mr. Mass Extinction Event!

      "Godzilla's coming"
      Io, "Godzilla 2000" (US version dialog)

      G Countdown: 20 days (www.godzillaoncube.com)

    4. Re:Meteor Showers by Melantha_Bacchae · · Score: 2

      Here is a picture of a 1998 Draconid fireball:

      http://www.comet-track.com/meteor/draconids98/dr ac onids98.html

      1998 was also the year of the Leonid storm (with fireballs) and the coming of the King of Terror in "Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks".

      Movie (December 1998): "The great devil will come from the sky!"
      Video Subtitle (Summer 1999): "The King of Terror is coming!"
      Moll, "Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks"

      G Countdown: 20 days (www.godzillaoncube.com)

  21. Poor sarge. by blowhole · · Score: 5, Funny

    On the "astronomical" chance of anything being discovered, Sgt. Byfield said, police would have contacted officials from the University of Colorado to determine what to do.

    Dude, I'd be mad as hell if some whack journalist put my name in the same goddamn PARAGRAPH as that pun.

    --
    "Ask me about Loom"
    1. Re:Poor sarge. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Ask me about Loom."

      Okay then. What's Loom?

    2. Re:Poor sarge. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know, I've never seen him answer that question.

      Maybe it's to generate false intrigue and mystique! Perhaps he has nothing to do with "Loom".

  22. INVASION DAY by Capsaicin · · Score: 1

    Well it had to happen folks, THEY are landing! Let's hope they mean to share this planet with our race!

    --
    Better to be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident a security. --Edmund Burke
    1. Re:INVASION DAY by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My concerns:
      1. are they sexy?
      2. are they female?
      3. can I screw them?

    2. Re:INVASION DAY by Walt+Dismal · · Score: 5, Funny

      Some guy with a Linux laptop just ran by me, claiming he could jam the mothership's electronics. I haven't the faintest idea what he meant.

    3. Re:INVASION DAY by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If they look anything like this, Then the answer to your questions is definatley yes, yes and only if she's in the mood.

  23. field report? by cowtamer · · Score: 1, Redundant

    I saw the most beautiful "shooting star" in Virginia Beach, VA Saturday night. It was a very cloudy night, so we were JOKING about the possibility of seeing a shooting star...and this one was probably the brightest I've seen in my life.

    I wonder what's going on...

    1. Re:field report? by Gordonjcp · · Score: 2

      A couple of years ago, I was hitching back to my house - a fairly short journey of about 20 miles or so. I got a lift with a guy I knew from near where I live, and we were talking about astronomy and space debris. Now, this particular night was pretty overcast, with more-or-less complete cloud cover at about 1000' and by this time, fairly dark. Just as we were stopping outside my house, we saw a fireball of some sort, presumably a meteorite, which left a bright flame-like trail and was clearly *below* cloud level. We saw it break through the cloud, then illuminate the bottom of the cloud above it.

    2. Re:field report? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Virginia is not anywhere near Colorado. How is that redundant?

  24. For the answers to this and other questions by rjamestaylor · · Score: 1
    see Art Bell. If it's weird and implies alien life, it's there.

    (if you recall the Heaven's Gate mass exodus to join the "companion" of Hale-Bopp, it was Art Bell's program that reported the possibility of the companion to the comet)

    --
    -- @rjamestaylor on Ello
    1. Re:For the answers to this and other questions by micaelus · · Score: 1

      Would some graphics person out there please do some pro-bono work and design Arty a new website? That flash page is what the web would be if it was still 1975...

    2. Re:For the answers to this and other questions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes with all of those photoshop experts around, the webpage will be sub-par in no time.

  25. Say what? [funny] by djupedal · · Score: 5, Insightful
    "None of the fireballs appear to have anything in common with each other."

    Other than:
    • When they arrived
    • Where they were seen
    • Why they were in this vicinity
    • Color
    • Speed
    • Size
    • Origin
    • Composition [Class III Fireball - Do not handle without proper training and protection. Consult your handbook.]
    Reach for the sky, hombre!
    1. Re:Say what? [funny] by Malcontent · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What I found interesting was that there was no attempt made to try and explain this phenomena. All then talk about is how rare it is and how they are unrelated. You'd think a scientist would exhibit at least some curiosity about the subject.

      --

      War is necrophilia.

    2. Re:Say what? [funny] by ceejayoz · · Score: 2

      Well, it's entirely explainable by random chance. Unusual, but hardly impossible.

    3. Re:Say what? [funny] by absurdhero · · Score: 1

      A whole two fireballs in two days is probably coincidence just like they said.
      Isn't it usually just a coincidence when a geek gets to two girls in two days?

    4. Re:Say what? [funny] by Malcontent · · Score: 2

      Claiming coincidence is not a explanation. The article stated that it's extremely rare for this to happen so you'd think that a scientist would wonder if there was something going on to to manifest this thing. Otherwise sheer coincidence can explain just about anything.

      --

      War is necrophilia.

    5. Re:Say what? [funny] by mbadolato · · Score: 5, Funny

      [Class III Fireball - Do not handle without proper training and protection. Consult your handbook.]

      Do not taunt Happy Fireball

    6. Re:Say what? [funny] by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe they don't WANT to find the explanation?

    7. Re:Say what? [funny] by cebe · · Score: 4, Funny

      lol

      If I remember correctly.... :)

      Ingredients of Happy Fun Ball include an unknown glowing green substance which fell to Earth, presumably from outer space.

      --
      You have paid for a total of 0 pages and so far 0 have been used up (0 today).
    8. Re:Say what? [funny] by kfg · · Score: 4, Funny

      There is a difference between rare and unheard off. I'd also point out that stating the events were apparently unrelated indicates not only some curiosity, but that some investigation due to that curiosity had occured.

      Being dealt a Royal Flush is rare, it is notable, it happens. Why, and why on *that* hand?

      Because shit like that happens. By chance.

      What were the odds of being dealt that last hand you got that wasn't a Royal Flush?

      Ah! If you knew the anwer to that you'ld know a lot more about "coincidence" than you apparently do now.

      By the way, why do you suppose they call it "astronomical" odds?

      KFG

    9. Re:Say what? [funny] by jkantola · · Score: 1

      Also the fact that last night was the peak of Draconides meteor storm, which occasionally can reach the intensity of the more well known Leonid showers (I have no idea if the constellation is visible in Colorado area).

      Still it seems a bit funny that there should be so many fireballs crashing down on a relatively small area.

    10. Re:Say what? [funny] by Lumpy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Actually I observed one of these 3 weeks ago at arounf 9:30pm on the west coast of lake michigan. although I think the size's reported are way off in regards to what I saw.

      They are just larger meteors.. I have seen about 6 in my lifetime like this... but then I spend lots of time looking at the sky at night (3-4 nights a week in the hottub for 30-45 minutes staring at the open night sky)

      the interesting thing is their approach direction is wrong.. for the time of the night it should have been from the west and more vertical as the planet was travelling in the direction at that time.. this one reentered as if it had been orbiting the planet from an odd direction (from the north) and was very flat(travelled across the sky with no visible angle toward the ground)

      I highly doubt that these are special at all.. Meteorites happen... get over it people.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    11. Re:Say what? [funny] by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      By the way, why do you suppose they call it "astronomical" odds?

      Because the universe is big.

    12. Re:Say what? [funny] by maniac1860 · · Score: 0

      Let's play poker some time. I'll deal.

    13. Re:Say what? [funny] by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "small area" he calls a 7 state area.
      "so many" he says after saying "meteor storm".
      he funny.

    14. Re:Say what? [funny] by X · · Score: 2

      Here's a story that's a good example of how statistics can be misleading.

      The odds of getting a royal flush, if you aren't cheating, are 1.539x10^-6. Now, you're playing cards with the Pope, and he gets a RoyalFlush. What are the odds he's cheating?

      --
      sigs are a waste of space
    15. Re:Say what? [funny] by DustMagnet · · Score: 4, Insightful
      The article quotes:

      "It's quite astounding that we've seen two in two nights," said John Bally, an astrophysics professor at CU. "Sporadic fireballs are quite rare. Unless we're in a meteor storm, it's very uncommon."

      I guess the reporter figured that mentioning that it was the peak of Draconids would take some of the fun out of the story. The last paragraph left me thinking it was very uncommon, not that it was actually slightly unusual.

      --
      'SBEMAIL!' is better than a goat!!
    16. Re:Say what? [funny] by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What the fark is happy fireball?!

    17. Re:Say what? [funny] by Don+Negro · · Score: 2

      From the north?

      Hmm, and the big reports come during the Draconids.

      If I were going to deorbit a satellite(s) that no one was supposed to know about, (and the ones that no one is supposed to know about all pretty much all in polar orbit) I know when I'd choose to do it...

      --

      Don Negro
      Perl 6 will give you the big knob. -- Larry Wall

    18. Re:Say what? [funny] by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Composition [Class III Fireball - Do not handle without proper training and protection. Consult your handbook.]


      These things happen so often there is a freaking handbook?!!? Should I be going outside at night more often? Heck, I don't go outside much during the DAY! Anyone been outside lately? Whats happening?

    19. Re:Say what? [funny] by cloudbait · · Score: 1

      What exactly do you think nobody is trying to explain? I'm the guy who's going through all the witness reports. I use that information to try and reconstruct the original orbit and resulting path of the fireball. That is the first step in understanding any possible relationship between the events, and it doesn't happen overnight (I've got 1500 reports from three fireballs.) The preliminary evidence suggests the events are unrelated. There are currently no active fireball producing showers. The three fireballs over the central U.S. in the last month all had different radiants, so they are not part of the same debris stream. September 6 may have been a Taurid, October 6 may have been a Draconid, October 7 matches no known streams. While it is uncommon to have three such events close together, it is not unbelievably so. Believe me, there is plenty of curiosity.

    20. Re:Say what? [funny] by Bob+Vila's+Hammer · · Score: 1

      "Happy Funball may stick to *certain types of skin."

      *Results may resemble a glowing pickle...

      --


      --"The perfect example of the man of action is the suicide." - William Carlos Williams
  26. Here is my first hand report. by teamhasnoi · · Score: 5, Funny
    Well, I was on the International Space Station playing cribbage with one of the Russian guys when he decided to get a snack.

    "LUNCH, NOT LAUNCH!" I yelled as he absent-mindedly pushed the button that freed the living quarters from the rest of the station.


    ....um, right now I'm falling. Yup. Falling fast. It's pretty warm in here. Whew. Better put on a t-shirt.

    Ok. I'm looking out the window. Hey! I see clouds! Cool. That looks like mountains over there... I wonder if 3pojjaet8rj['[545$YW#$#..
    sw245ll.///
    ./#%.

    Ok. I seem to have crashed. I can't move my legs. Could someone please get me an asprin? I'll try to walk. Oh God! The pain... it's excruciating! Ow. I think my leg just snapped. Ow. Ow. Ow.

    1. Re:Here is my first hand report. by rickwood · · Score: 1

      I thought I was the only one to remember the Far Out Space Nuts.

      Apparently, I was wrong.

  27. My guess... by Skreech · · Score: 1, Funny

    A bunch of geeks saw the slashdot story, went out and got a bunch of metallic sodium, and the rest is in the story.

    1. Re:My guess... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Redundant? This one is better than most of the other sodium references.

  28. I saw a bunch one night, 40 years ago by mesocyclone · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Many years ago, my family was driving from El Paso, TX to Albuquerque, NM, when we saw a number of fireballs. The first occurred just after sunset, was visually a large, bright green glowing object leaving a smoke trail. It traveled east to west and lasted about 10 seconds, then broke up into two pieces and disappeared. We were just north of El Paso, and were listening to KOMA in Oklahoma, City - there were many reports called in to them from many states.

    As the drive continued, we saw about 6 more fireballs, all red, all running east to west, through the rest of the evening.

    Quite a show. The clear and thin high altitude air of the rockies, along with the lack of city lights, makes these sitings a lot more common in those areas.

    We didn't see any LGM, however.

    --

    The only good weather is bad weather.

    1. Re:I saw a bunch one night, 40 years ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course you didn't see any LGM. Somebody has been playing a tad too much Bolo...... :-P

    2. Re:I saw a bunch one night, 40 years ago by Darth_Burrito · · Score: 2

      If if November, it might have been part of the Leonid meteor shower. It peaks on a 33 year cycle the last having been 1999-2000. So it would have been 1966-ish last time it was really big. It can be a really impressive show. Back in 1833, a lot of people thought it was the end of the world. http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/showers/leoni dhistory.html

    3. Re:I saw a bunch one night, 40 years ago by mesocyclone · · Score: 2

      No, it wasn't that. There were very few typical meteors that night - mostly red fireballs.

      The Leonids would have had lots and lots of typical "streak" meteors.

      --

      The only good weather is bad weather.

    4. Re:I saw a bunch one night, 40 years ago by Tablizer · · Score: 2


      Actually the military spent a fair amount of resources trying to discover the nature of odd "green fireballs" that kept appearing in certain parts of the US in 1948 and 1949. Los Alamos scientists were called on to explore the evidence because of the oddities of the fireballs.

      One scientist, La Paz, thought they may have a non-natural origin due to the color, the appearent trajectory, and some other details. However, most believed the most likely explanation was an odd kind of meteor composition.

      They set up special cameras for the research, but the Korean War diverted resources soon afterwards. (This part may not be in Peebles book.)

      More info in Curtis Peebles, "Watch the Skies!", page 32. Curtis is a UFO skeptic, but not a very good one IMO.

    5. Re:I saw a bunch one night, 40 years ago by evilpenguin · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Okay, I know spelling/grammar flaming isn't right, and this isn't anything personal (I make flagrant errors due to fast typing an no proofreading myself), but I am really beginning to be bugged by people mixing up "site" and "sight." A "site" is a place, a location. A "sight" is something to see, something seen or worth seeing. So you have a web "site" and a "sight" to see. This is not to mention the word "cite," which is a verb meaning "to refer to" or "to quote."

      Cite, site, sight.

      Sorry about that. Phew. Now, on topic:

      No LGMs? Any BEMs?

    6. Re:I saw a bunch one night, 40 years ago by mesocyclone · · Score: 2

      I think that particular one is because folks, like myself, use the word "site" so often that our fingers automagically type it.

      I certainly know the right spelling, and I also notice it all the time, and yet as you point out, I did it in my own post. I hate a lot of the spelling and grammar mistakes on the net, but no point in flaming it!

      Errr... what's a BEM? Big Evil Monster?

      --

      The only good weather is bad weather.

    7. Re:I saw a bunch one night, 40 years ago by evilpenguin · · Score: 2

      Yeah, that's why I said it was nothing personal. More often than not it is fat-fingering or muscle memory, sut somtimes people clearly don't know the different words (although not in this case). It was just a boiling over; not aimed at you!

      BEM? You're close. Bug-Eyed Monster.

  29. Andromeda Strain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Damn! I'm stuck at work right now... in Gun Barrel, CO (north east of Boulder)! Who knew that there were fireballs flying over my head? Maybe I'll walk out tonight after hacking too many lines of code and realize that I'm the only one left alive (ala Andromeda Strain)... thanks Mr point hair manager for forcing me to stay 6 hours more than you!

  30. Re:It's the end of the world! by Quirk · · Score: 1

    D00d! take your meds... now.

    --
    "Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
    Cohen
  31. Planet X by Jin+Wicked · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There are many people that believe in the year 2003, another planet is going to enter our solar system from either outside the solar system or another dimension. It's known either as Planet X, or a name that starts with N, which escapes me at the moment... I do find it an interesting coincidence that a story was just posted about the discovery of a new planet, and now to hear of these bizarre fireballs. I'm sure they're having a field day with this on the Art Bell show tonight. I'm a skeptic on all things "extraterrestrial" and paranormal, but it's still really interesting to listen to. :)

    --
    My Webcomic: Asylum on 5th Street
    1. Re:Planet X by Nedmud · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I read about something called the "Nemesis Theory", by Richard Muller, which proposes that Sol is actually a binary star system (in which Sol B is called Nemesis or the Death Star ;-). Every 26 million years Nemesis passes through the Oort cloud and collects comets, some of which hit us.

      The evidence for this is the periodic drops in biodiversity (i.e. mass extinctions) that seem to occur every 26 million years (according to some paleontolists). However, we are between extinctions, and should be relatively trouble free for more than 10 million years.

      From other posts in the vicinity it looks like Nemesis wasn't what you were talking about, but I guess it's in the same category. Personally, I think we would know if there was another star--even a small dark one--that close to us.

      (Source: Michio Kaku, _Hyperspace_, pp. 296-298. Recommended for people like me who can't get past first-year university but like scientific things anyhow.)

    2. Re:Planet X by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Planet X?
      I'm sure that was an planet in Superman.
      Is Art getting senile in his old age?

    3. Re:Planet X by isbhod · · Score: 1

      um, if sol was a binary system then wouldn't sol's twin be the cloest star, not that alpha centuri thing. Also wouldn,t we get sun sets like those on tatoonie ?

    4. Re:Planet X by Nedmud · · Score: 1

      Yeah that's my point, if we had another star that close *we would notice it*.

      From Space.com I got a bit more info about it, and apparently Nemesis is a red dwarf (a small and dim star) with an orbit between 1 and 3 light years from Sol. I don't know if that means they have narrowed it down to that range through theory, or if the orbit has a perihelion (closest point to sun) of 1 ly and aphelion (the other extreme) of 3 ly. Probably the latter.

      I guess a star that's relatively only a little closer than Alpha Centauri, but much dimmer, would be harder to find.

    5. Re:Planet X by blibbleblobble · · Score: 2

      It's known either as Planet X, or a name that starts with N [nemesis]

      Try the astronomy pages for an explanation of why this is considered crap.

      (p.s. More interestingly, read about our weird 'moon', Cruithne - stranger than fiction!

    6. Re:Planet X by juhaz · · Score: 1

      The article also mentions a brown dwarf, which would be helluva lot harder to find than a red one...

      What about the pioneer "anomalies", are they far enough yet that the speculated companion star (if you can even call brown dwarf a star) could be lurking around there and be unnoticed.

    7. Re:Planet X by Ixohoxi · · Score: 1

      Causality seems like coincidence until it's proven. Seen any SOHO footage lately? Lots of new stuff flying around this neck of the galactic woods.

      --
      What's a second? An hour? A day?
      It has much more to do with
      the Earth's rotation than with cesium.
    8. Re:Planet X by jeblucas · · Score: 1

      I thought you were talking about Nemesis. Our sun's DEATH COMPANION STARRRARARRARRARAAIIIEEEE!

      --
      blarg.
    9. Re:Planet X by Tar-Palantir · · Score: 1

      Ever read Asimov's "Nemesis"? It has the same scenario, though five thousand years in the future.

    10. Re:Planet X by johnalex · · Score: 1

      I thought the name was Planet Mongo.

      Is Flash Gordon reading this?

      --
      JA
      http://www.johnalex.org/
    11. Re:Planet X by smithmc · · Score: 1

      ...from either outside the solar system or another dimension. It's known either as Planet X, or a name that starts with N, which escapes me at the moment...

      Planet Ten. There's a bunch of people named John living on it - John Whorfin, John Bigboute, etc. One of them looks kind of like John Lithgow.

      --
      Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
    12. Re:Planet X by spoon42 · · Score: 1

      So that's what those fireballs are. But don't worry. They'll be going. Real soon. :)

      --
      --- this comment is presented in WIDE SCREEN STEREO!!!
    13. Re:Planet X by spoon42 · · Score: 1

      Short version: go watch The Fifth Element. :)

      I'm guessing it's another archetypal story like The Flood myth.

      So, look out every 5000 years. Or 26 million. Or 64 million, or however long it takes the Mayan calendar to roll over in 2012. But if it is 64, that lines up nicely with the extinction of the dinosaurs, and then we're doomed. Or just sit back and enjoy a good story. heh.

      --
      --- this comment is presented in WIDE SCREEN STEREO!!!
  32. sounds like girly weed to me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If it was any good at all, you'd have 0 memory of the event. Good pot went out with the Monkeys.

  33. I saw one last week by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    over Dallas in the southern sky. it was only visible for one or two seconds, but bright enough to see from the corner of my eye. very bright blue indeed, much more so than a typical shooting star.

  34. It's Not Like They Didn't Warn Us by clemens · · Score: 2, Funny

    The sodium-in-the-pool experiment must be a go-code for them. ("Go go go! Our undercovers have turned all the water into acid!")

    --
    This is the funniest signature I could ever think of.
    1. Re:It's Not Like They Didn't Warn Us by SQL+Error · · Score: 3, Funny

      Into acid? Boy are they in for a surprise!

  35. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by grumpygrodyguy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    My favourite quote: "in the Gunbarrel area...". Americans! You're so damn steeped in gun culture you name neighbourhoods after weapons' parts.

    True true, but as a previous resident of Colorado I can tell you that these names are at least 120 years old. They were so-named during the frontier era when the only thing that kept you alive was your gun. Mountain men relied on thier weapon for food and for protection. That's just the way it was in the West during the 1800s, and that's why they named stuff the way they did.

    It just makes a canajen boy shake his head and celebrate the difference.

    Maybe you should study your countries' history a bit more.

    --
    The government has a defect: it's potentially democratic. Corporations have no defect: they're pure tyrannies. -Chomsky
  36. Re:Witness to fat pig eugenia pig bitch loli stain by Buck2 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    This was very interesting, but, and I don't normally complain about this, there were a few punctuation errors here and there that really threw off the rhythm.

    Oh, and before I forget, I don't think the haiku's are the more traditional 5-7-5, although, quite frankly, I don't know how many syllables are in LOLI QUERU.

    Thanks for the tips, though, and I'll be sure not to peruse OSNews in the near future.

    --

    As my father lik@(munch munch)... ....
  37. Nibiru by Jin+Wicked · · Score: 5, Interesting

    is the planet's name, for anyone who wants to do a Google search or look on Art's site about it. I should also mention that they expect highly evolved alien races to accompany this giant planet/spaceship. :)

    --
    My Webcomic: Asylum on 5th Street
    1. Re:Nibiru by valmont · · Score: 2
      okay, so huge planet-like spacial contraption gets near human-like civilization. So what next? Darth Vader payin us a visit?

      Uncle Owwweeeeeeeeeeen

    2. Re:Nibiru by kubrick · · Score: 1

      So the Heaven's Gate people were right, just a little premature? :)

      (Seriously, they were creepy... the leader never seemed to blink, for example.)

      --
      deus does not exist but if he does
    3. Re:Nibiru by NTDaley · · Score: 1

      I just looked it up.
      The human propensity for talking cr*p never ceases to amaze me.

      --
      bits and peace
      Nicholas Daley
    4. Re:Nibiru by sireasoning · · Score: 2, Interesting

      a little history:
      Nibiru is the Sumerian term for this planet, which is estimated to have a 3,600 earth year cycle.

      The Sumerians had a complete record of all of the known planets (including the recently discovered ones such as Uranus, Neptune and Pluto), they knew that Uranus and Neptune were watery planets and had been knocked on their side among other facts we are now rediscovering, and they even had a layout of our solar system before its current order when the earth was positioned where the current asteroid belt is located and pluto was a moon of saturn.

      If this planetary body is indeed quickly shooting through our solar system again (some feel that it is really a red dwarf sun with satelites).

      The last time it would have approached would have been around the time of the biblical exodus. During that time there were peculiar weather patterns and ecological imbalances that led to a plague of locusts, which in turn probably created the plague of frogs, etc. The parting of the red sea would make sense in terms of a tsunami. They were told to go to the edge of the Red Sea, as it receded they quickly crossed it and headed to the next mountain range. By the time the Egyptians came chasing after them, they got hit by the full force of the Tsunami.

      Approx 3,600 years before the exodus would have been the time of the great flood (which has been recorded in multiple places around the globe and is not just limited to the middle east.)

      The key to both of the above stories is that there was little warning before these huge events. The few voices of warnings were largely ignored or ridiculed.

      One other curious fact. The symbol of this planet was similar to the winged globe common in Egypt. Check out this NASA SOHO picture of the sun in September
      http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/rea ltime/javag if/gifs/20020918_1842_c3.gif
      or
      http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q43E216D1
      I thought this was a fraud until I downloaded it from NASA's site. You will find this type image throughout the region, not just in Egypt.

      --
      The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them. -Albert Einstein
    5. Re:Nibiru by NTDaley · · Score: 1

      I wasn't so much casting aspersion on the idea of an object with an extreme orbit like that, or that the Sumerians might have been that good at astronomy (I don't really know enough about astronomy or Sumeria to comment on that). However I'll believe it exists when somebody reputable and not from ancient Sumeria has reported seeing it.

      What I was commenting on was the obviously baseless nonsense that appears on most of the sites mentioning it. Other dimensions, aliens, etc.

      Here's a page from someone who has obviously done more homework than me. (or most of the Niburu sites)
      http://www.planet-x.150m.com/

      --
      bits and peace
      Nicholas Daley
    6. Re:Nibiru by NTDaley · · Score: 1

      I don't recall seeing any winged globe symbols when I was in Egypt. Of course I was nine at the time, and not looking for winged globes; however a winged globe is so different from most Egyptian hieroglyphs, that if it truly was common I think it would get a bit more attention from most sources.

      --
      bits and peace
      Nicholas Daley
    7. Re:Nibiru by corezion · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      iBelieve. but lately I think i'm fucking psycho. According to Mr. Webster I surely am... why am I changing so drastically? can't I just resume my ignorance of these external factors?

      http://bokeoa.com/~core/anthropos_sapiens_sophos .t xt

      peace,
      Charles Stevenson (core)

      PS HACKER FOR HIRE!!!!!!! http://bokeoa.com/~core/resume.html

      I need money to go to Australia in December for yet another eclipse festage.... http://www.outbackeclipsefestival.com/

      Looking for short term contracts. Serious applicants only please. None of this scan my internal network of WinXP machines.. no thanks. Linux only. What else... I make $5.15/hour so... pretty much any price is negotiable. The larger your company the more I expect. ;P

      --
      "There is no Death. Only a change of worlds."
    8. Re:Nibiru by corezion · · Score: 1

      Cool I just saw one... 0545 Mountain Time at... 45 degrees (due north east) from Blanding, Utah in the sky... very bright.. it arc'd down in front of the Big Dipper. So I'd look there while it's still dark if you want to also see this. :)

      --
      "There is no Death. Only a change of worlds."
    9. Re:Nibiru by corezion · · Score: 0

      I dunno if this came across /. yet but if not it's a good read... we may see a shift of the idea of pluto as a planet to an outer belt object:

      http://www.spacedaily.com/news/kuiper-02c.html

      bored... bleh... bah. ;/

      Any /. people hang on SILC? I'm in silc channel and unix and security...

      --
      "There is no Death. Only a change of worlds."
    10. Re:Nibiru by cruelworld · · Score: 1

      google "winged globe" egypt. result 5 seconds.

      http://www.premier1.net/~raines/disc.html

    11. Re:Nibiru by susano_otter · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Perhaps you'd feel better if you knew about the Origins and Use of the Winged Sun-Disk. Apparently, it's also mentioned in Maurice's Indian Antiquities . You can get an idea of how widespread this symbol was in this discussion about the migration of symbols. Google provides links to many more such sites, if you'd like to conduct further impromptu research.

      It's a pity you didn't see any when you were in Egypt. You appear to have missed out on a significant core element of Egyptian iconography.

      --

      Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.

    12. Re:Nibiru by corezion · · Score: 1

      I am stalking you fred. Be afraid. ;p

      --
      "There is no Death. Only a change of worlds."
    13. Re:Nibiru by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      *gasps*
      *hides under his desk* :-p

  38. Shuttle External Tank burning up on reentry? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anybody know where it was supposed to re-enter?

  39. Burning, itchy... by hansroy · · Score: 3, Funny

    "rash of fireballs" Reading that line made me snort milk.

  40. Whoa by ewithrow · · Score: 1

    From the Denver Post article:

    "It's probably a 1 or 2 on a scale of 10"

    I wonder: what is considered a "10"?

    I know...RUN!

  41. The only difference... by Ironpoint · · Score: 2, Interesting


    These big, slow green fireballs happen from time to time. The only difference this time is that there were two different consecutive fireballs in two days. Its probably two chunks of the same rock...

    Just like shoemaker-levy did when it smashed an earth sized crater in Jupiter. No worries.

    1. Re:The only difference... by ObitMan · · Score: 0

      I would worry about something making an Earth sized crater on the Earth.

      --
      Who run Barter Town?
  42. Re:It has to be... by madsenj37 · · Score: 0, Troll

    In related news, 47% of slashdot likes http://www.goatse.cx

    --
    Choosing the lesser of two evils is a choice for evil.
  43. You know it had to be said by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1.) Spot fireballs
    2.) ????
    3.) Profit!!!!

  44. HA! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're OLD! ;)

  45. Project Blue Light Started by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Long term project to end monotheism and desensitize the populace to the shock of alien contact.

  46. Robin Williams? by leviramsey · · Score: 4, Funny

    I note that the reports are of the fireballs landing near Boulder. Does this mean that Mork from Ork has arrived?

    Nanoo Nanoo!

    [For those young whippersnappers who don't watch TV land, the popular TV show Mork and Mindy, starring Robin Williams, was set in Boulder]

  47. Slashdot Readers Report Rise In One-Liners by thedbp · · Score: 5, Funny

    Several /. readers e-mailed their concerns over a sharp increase in one-liners today, fueling speculation that these one-liners are not just a random occurance, but perhaps the first ungodly signs of the oncoming apocolypse.

    "usually we'll see a few, maybe even a bunch, of one-liners for certain stories we've posted," said CmdrTaco, languishing in a drunken hallucinagenic stupor on the steps of his villa in the south of france. "but christ, its like henny youngman possessed the populace on a scale rivaling that of ..." Taco then gurgled and sputtered and dropped to a heap on the patio.

    "certainly one-liners are a common, almost obligatory, form of logical reponse," said one reader, "but this many makes me want to get in a white van and shoot people at random. do these people think they're funny? its really just in bad taste."

    one-liner watchers are unconcerned however. "we've seen this before - like the article about the giant Bart Simpson doll copulating with a penguin - and no substantial harm was done on the long term." some, however, are still reliving the nightmare.

    with no end in sight to this barrage, Micro$oft engineers have released a worm to tack on at least 3 sentences promoting WindowsS.Ux, Ballmer Edition to each post to space out the green bars just a little further.

    1. Re:Slashdot Readers Report Rise In One-Liners by valmont · · Score: 3, Interesting
      heh heh. if only i had mod points. u should sell this to The Onion ;]

      Oh gawd, i can't wait 'till the onion gets a field day out of those stories.

    2. Re:Slashdot Readers Report Rise In One-Liners by rlwhite · · Score: 1
      "certainly one-liners are a common, almost obligatory, form of logical reponse," said one reader, "but this many makes me want to get in a white van and shoot people at random. do these people think they're funny? its really just in bad taste."

      In other news, police suspect a slashdot reader is responsible for recent Washington-area shootings.

  48. Also in Southern IL early Monday morning by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I don't know if this is related or simply a coincidence. I was driving north on I-55 very early on Monday morning. I was somewhere around Springfield, IL, when a flash in front of me and slightly to my left and slightly above, maybe at 30 degrees, caught my attention. I didn't see the original event very well, since it was just in my peripheral vision, but I saw a very bright green tail that stayed lit for about two seconds. Unfortunately, since I was driving all night I don't remember now exactly where I was or what time it was, but it should have been around 2:00 am +/- 1 hour.

    It was much more spectacular than anything I'd seen before. And this includes last year's Leonid meteor shower, which I watched in New Mexico, at 7,000 feet of elevation, and far away from city lights (and not behind a dirty windshield!). So this one was really something. It broke a very boring drive and helped keep me awake, thinking about it.

    1. Re:Also in Southern IL early Monday morning by splinterBR · · Score: 1

      4 years ago, I saw the same thing that has been described before--a green meteorite looking thing with a greenish-blue tail. A few friends and I were on the way home (we live in a rural town near Springfield, IL (Petersburg)). We thought it was fireworks, but the object, from the very first moment we saw it, had a tail trailing up. It disappeared beneath the tree line, but we couldn't tell how far away it was. Needless to say, we figured it was just some meteorite, but it was kind of freaky nonetheless.

      --
      Rooting for the yankees is like rooting for herpes.
    2. Re:Also in Southern IL early Monday morning by ObitMan · · Score: 0

      You failed to remind him that Southern Illinois doesn't really start till you get past Hillsboro or even Centralia.
      For that omission I banish you to Winchester. >:)

      The parent poster must be from Chicago, they think Bloomington is Southern Illinois as well.

      --
      Who run Barter Town?
    3. Re:Also in Southern IL early Monday morning by HedRat · · Score: 1

      ...caught my attention.

      I'm guessing *anything* with a bright green tail in Springfield at 2:00 in the morning will catch your attention. Springfield makes Mayberry look like a "think-tank".

  49. Hmmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wonder if one of these meteors landed in hot substance like lava?

  50. Blizzard!!! Damn you!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We never paid any attention....
    Like fools we clung to the old hatred, fighting as we had for generations...
    Until the sky rained fire....

    We stand now at the brink of annihilation,
    For the Reign of Chaos has come at last.

    Warcraft III Addict

  51. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by Quirk · · Score: 0, Troll

    My history comes from 6 prior generations of Canadians on my father side; the family beginnings in Canada stem from two brothers originally from Norway. On my mother's side I'm 4th generation Canadian of german extraction. My german forebearers where journey carpenters, and farmers. They came up the Oregon Trail and dispersed throughout the Dakotas and the Canadian prairie. They sheltered the first winter in sod huts made of sod and rootwork. I have had devolve upon me generations of farm lore and gun lore. My family has served in many of Canada' wars and rebellions. My knowledge of guns started at the age of four when my first .22 calibre single shot rifle was purchased for me. I have lived in major metropolitan areas since beginning universtiy and no longer own guns because I think they should be under, supervised lock and key in urban areas and I have no need to kill my own game. ( Although I'm more than able to do so ) So you see I not only know my country's history I am the living history of my country since before it came into being as the modern nation you know it to be. Fuck you :)

    --
    "Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
    Cohen
  52. Now, more than ever, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    fireballs are lighting the night skies.

    How would Jesus protect the children?

    Or have the terrorists already won?

  53. In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In other news, scores of slashdot readers have disappeared in the same area, reportedly after attempts to procure significant quantities of metallic Sodium...

  54. Its quite obvious what it is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ZERG RUSH!!!!!!!!!
    GOGOGOOGOGOGO!!!!

    Please try to keep posts on topic.
    Try to reply to other people comments instead of starting new threads.
    Read other people's messages before posting your own to avoid simply duplicating what has already been said.
    Use a clear subject that describes what your message is about.
    Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated. (You can read everything, even moderated posts, by adjusting your threshold on the User Preferences Page)

  55. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    My knowledge of guns started at the age of four when my first .22 calibre single shot rifle was purchased for me.

    How typically Canadian. Instilling Canadian gun culture in 4 year old children. Digusting!

  56. Well it's obvious really. by Gldm · · Score: 1

    Dragonball Z characters have heard about Quaoar and are fighting over who gets to blow it up first. The fireballs are just strays from the combat. Nothing to be concerned about I'm sure.

    --

    Introducing the new Occam Fusion! Now with sqrt(-1) fewer blades!

  57. Yeah, this is in the Bible. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The fireballs are supposed to appear shortly before the final battle between good and evil. The supernatural army of the good and the mortal human army of evil under the command of the anti-christ will meet on plains of Armageddon, in present day Iraq. We all know the outcome, don't we? I'm talking to you, VOTERS OF USIA.

  58. Remind any one of.... by xkmfdmkx · · Score: 1

    the movie Signs [imdb.com]

    I mean really similar to the plot lines.

    Maybe it was a warning... or maybe they really ARE coming back to take over since they've already turned our president into town fool (I mean national).

  59. So, who's covering this story? by TrentC · · Score: 2, Funny

    WOuld it be Orson Welles, by anyc hance?

    Jay (=

  60. The logical explanation by Nathdot · · Score: 5, Funny

    The first conlusion we should all jump to is that this is unequivocable evidence of an extra-terrestrial encounter.

    All those who say otherwise are cynical naysayers.

    By the time they are convinced it could well be too late. The time for action is now.

    I for one support the military action that George W. Bush is planning for these alien enemies of state. So grab a gun and head for Colorado! Time is a-wasting.

    1. Re:The logical explanation by inkswamp · · Score: 2
      So grab a gun and head for Colorado!

      Have you ever heard Bill Hicks' bit about UFOs and rednecks?

      --
      --Rick "If it isn't broken, take it apart and find out why."
    2. Re:The logical explanation by isorox · · Score: 2

      So grab a gun and head for Colorado!

      "Once again authorities are asking los-angelinos not to fire their guns at the visitng spacecraft, you may inadvertently start an intersteller war"

      24 hours later. Boom.

      Fscking yanks and their guns ;)

  61. Traitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Moderators, mod this guy down, he's against going to War with Iraq!

  62. From the 'ya think?' dept. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Colorado? Not near Boulder, by any chance? Oh my God!
    Considering 'Ball' Colorado sounded gay, and 'Fireboulder' seems a bit too Hasbro.

  63. What direction? by uberstool · · Score: 1

    I saw one the other night in southern Arizona.
    It was bright white/blue and left a greeenish trail. It left an vapor trail that lasted approx 3 minutes. It appeared directly above me and heading southwest.

  64. open your eyes, peeple! by banka · · Score: 0

    cmon, over a hundred dollars of sodium??

    is there any reason this should be surprising??

  65. triffid references??? by jamesh · · Score: 2, Interesting

    54 comments, and only one triffid reference??? and that one made reference to the _stupid_ movie where salt water killed them.

    what's wrong with you people!

    maybe there's just nothing funny about plants that eat people...

    1. Re:triffid references??? by saskboy · · Score: 2

      I thought Wyndam was quite insightful. He was only wrong about the USSR unleashing a blinding satellite on us all. He nailed the genetically modified plants. Heck, one of them was mentioned on /. today, as a "mining plant" for toxic chemicals.
      Great, now I have to go stock up on triffid guns and toilet paper.

      --
      Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
  66. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by Kymermosst · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, well I was hanging out in the Sears on Bolt Street, when I heard about this party happening down on Breach Avenue. I got into my Colt and hammered my way down the street, with my hair-trigger reflexes in my fingers. I scoped out the target and got a grip on the situation. I squeezed my way into the crowd and set my sights on this girl. I locked and loaded my line, and came up to her and told her I could clean her bore. Needless to say, she slapped me with a magazine, and clipped my fun for the evening. Fortunately, I had the caliber to move on to the next range the day after, and soon I was rifling my way through the lanes. The alley was pretty cool, but I wasn't cocked until I saw the one of my dreams! The hunt was over, all I needed to do was hit the bullseye here. I saw her go into the powder room, and strategically positioned myself for her return. When she came out, I got a grip on my nervousness, and asked her to join me for some evening shooting. We played all night, then went back to my place. She asked me to show her the double-barrel. She chambered my round just fine, and I shot a load. I now knew the meaning of what it was like to be a sex pistol.

    --
    "Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.
  67. Picture of the Fireballs by Grip3n · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you're like me, you *want* to see some pictures.

    http://www.cloudbait.com/science/fireballs.html

    Quite a bit of extra information is on this site as well.

    --
    To make a pun demonstrates the highest understanding of a language
    1. Re:Picture of the Fireballs by Gldm · · Score: 1

      "Seeing a great fireball is an unforgettable, once in a lifetime experience."

      Or maybe twice...

      --

      Introducing the new Occam Fusion! Now with sqrt(-1) fewer blades!

    2. Re:Picture of the Fireballs by flying_triguy · · Score: 1

      If anyone went to the link provided by the parent, did you notice that they recommend you get the position of the fireball with a PROTRACTOR, or weighted piece of string in addition to a compass?

      I can see it now,

      Whatcha doin pa?
      nothin' Mary-Sue-Ellen, I just gotta get my god-damn shoelace untied and pull out the compass I always keep under the hood of my truck...keep an eye on that big green object.. oh sh**, I'm wearing boots!

    3. Re:Picture of the Fireballs by dormat · · Score: 1

      I saw the peekskill fireball in 1992, the one pictured at cloudbait. That was incredible! I was camping in pennsylvania. the sky lit up and that sucker went flying overhead. that was truly amazing!!

  68. probability by evocate · · Score: 1

    might i remind you the probability of successfully navigating an asteroid field is 3720 to 1?

    1. Re:probability by foobar104 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Never tell me the odds.

  69. In Bush's speech by jsse · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    "It's a subtlee vidence that Iraq is attempting to launch nuclear missiles on us but missed. We must gather our firearms kicking their butts before they'd develop anything that hit."

  70. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by Quirk · · Score: 2, Offtopic

    You wrote: "How typically Canadian. Instilling Canadian gun culture in 4 year old children. Digusting!" Perhaps my perspective stems more from the value and education placed upon a gun. Seeing gun ownership as an extention of your Constitutional Rights and a necessary control upon your elected officials seems to play into the the perennial fascination Americans have with the wild mythos of the 'True West', not to mention the ultimate political extension in the form of the Monroe Doctrine.A gun to me is utilitarian object but potentially dangerous and is to be treated as such. Perhaps where my first introduction to gun lore was by way of two injunctions: (1) Treat every gun as if it were loaded; (2) Never point a gun at anything you don't intend to shoot, perhaps the 'merican ethos is more akin to threaten to shoot as a matter of foreign policy.

    --
    "Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
    Cohen
  71. Goodness gracious ... by Mind+Socket · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... great balls of fire!

    What a concept! It simply shakes my nerves and it rattles my brains.

  72. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by Dalcius · · Score: 4, Funny

    "My knowledge of guns started at the age of four when my first .22 calibre single shot rifle was purchased for me."

    You got a .22 when you were four?

    I live in Texas and I never shot anything but a BB gun until I was 12.

    How can you even make a comment about Americans and guns? =P

    --
    ~Dalcius
    Rome wasn't burnt in a day.
  73. Re:The explanation by foobar104 · · Score: 2

    reentering our atmosphere and burining up like...FISHY FIREBALLS!

    Not to be confused with the local Szechuan restaurant's seafood special, FIERY FISHBALLS!

  74. This seems to be some cloud by Ektanoor · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I read a few days ago that near Irkutsk, Russia a big meteorite seem to have fallen in a remote location. The thing seemed to be huge and it seems to have landed as there was a small quake after getting out of view.

    Besides, if I don't miss things it looks like that there is one more account about a similar phenomena out of the USA. Unfortunately I don't remember the place.

    So, it seems that we are inside some fresh new cloud of cosmical debris. The events we see are probably the result of Earth crossing the trajectory of Kuiper belt newcomer. Usually, when this happens, we get some spectacular phenomena on the skies, usually presented as meteorite showers. However this fireball show is surely less usual to see. The fact that this lasts for a few days is probably the result that the newcomer crumbled to pieces while approaching the Sun.

  75. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by foobar104 · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Would somebody please shoot this guy?

  76. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by flying_triguy · · Score: 1

    I too am Canadian,
    I too was taught RESPECT for firearms.
    I too heard the words "Treat every gun as if it were loaded"

    Perhaps it's something in the water up here.

    *grin*

  77. saw one in Japan by jeko · · Score: 1

    About that same time, I saw one from Fukuoka, Japan. The tail looked just a bit green with some orange. But other than being a big, pretty shooting star with a green tinge, it looked pretty much exactly like every other shooting star I've ever seen. I forgot to even mention it to my wife when I got home.

    I mean, it's not like it slowed down or reversed direction.

    --
    He put his boots up on the table and made a face. "The sig," he smirked. "You can waste your life in search of the sig."
    1. Re:saw one in Japan by MarcusScaurus · · Score: 1
      Fukuoka, eh? I'm also living in Fukuoka prefecture (but out in the sticks) and saw a great shooting star on Thursday the 3rd as I was biking home.

      It did get a mention to some friends a few nights later, but I didn't notice anything special about the colors. A toast to my perceptions and memory!

      Of course, now everyone who has spotted a shooting star in the past few weeks will be wondering if they could have provided some crucial evidence if only they'd paid more attention...

    2. Re:saw one in Japan by jeko · · Score: 1

      Yeah, saw it from Tagawa. The tinge I saw might have been a reflection, filtered through smog, or a million other things. It might very well mean I need to go clean my contacts.

      Other than being a pretty spectacular shooting star, it looked pretty normal to me.

      It's not like it had "Abandon All Hope" scratched on the side. (Serious geek bonus points if you get the obscure scifi tv reference.)

      --
      He put his boots up on the table and made a face. "The sig," he smirked. "You can waste your life in search of the sig."
  78. daily camera by skydude_20 · · Score: 2

    I find it amazing that my paper, the Daily Camera could actually merit a post on slashdot.. wow..

    --
    Jesus saves souls and redeems them for valuable cash prizes
    1. Re:daily camera by Chris+Burkhardt · · Score: 1

      hehe, I know, my hometown paper made slashdot! And there was much rejoicing... yay.

      I didn't actually see any fireballs, but people told me about them. And about 7 years ago I was playing football near my home in Boulder, and I saw a reddish fireball streak through the sky and then explode in a flash. It left a trail, too. It was pretty. Made me drop a pass, but at least I had a legit excuse that time.

      --
      "And there be unix which have made themselves unix for the kingdom of heaven's sake." - Matt. 19:12
  79. There were a bunch of these in the UK this week by Varitek · · Score: 3, Informative
  80. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by drinkypoo · · Score: 2
    (2) Never point a gun at anything you don't intend to shoot, perhaps the 'merican ethos is more akin to threaten to shoot as a matter of foreign policy.

    Having had guns pointed at me by cops I can tell you that it gets your attention real quick. Not pointing the gun at someone until you actually intend to put a bullet in them overlooks the secondary purpose of guns, which is to make the blood run like icewater in your veins.

    Incidentally all I was guilty of was speeding (10 mph over) and not pulling over when they put the lights on me (my back window was iced over and there are lots of streetlights on mission street in santa cruz.) The minute they bleeped the siren I pulled over, and I rolled down my window to find two guns pointed at my head. Scary as fuck.

    Also, your bit about foreign policy is just trolling. Fish elsewhere.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  81. yeah right.

  82. Re:It has to be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So George W Jr and all his war hawks must be Trolls too right?

  83. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    A gun to me is utilitarian object but potentially dangerous and is to be treated as such.

    By being put in the hands of a 4 year old ...

  84. Different directions? by Captain_Chaos · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's very odd that the CNN article said the second fireball was going the other way from the first one. If they were both from a debris cloud and occurred at the same time in the same place they should have been going in exaclty the same direction since they would be travelling in more or less the same direction and the orientation of the Earth in relation to their path would be more or less the same...

    If the article is correct, one or both of the fireballs must have been something else, such as a sattelite reentering the atmosphere, despite all the quotes from experts saying that they were meteorites...

    1. Re:Different directions? by ColaMan · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually there is a term called the 'radiant' when discussing meteor showers - all the meteors in a particular stream will appear to come from the same patch of sky, radiating outwards.

      It's similar to bugs heading towards your windscreen - they all appear to originate from one point (ahead on the highway) but as they get closer they radiate out and hit different parts of the windscreen from your perspective.

      I presume that at this time the radiant was close to 90 degrees overhead - then they would appear to be heading in different directions.

      --

      You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
      There is a lot of hype here.
    2. Re:Different directions? by Captain_Chaos · · Score: 1
      Actually there is a term called the 'radiant' when discussing meteor showers - all the meteors in a particular stream will appear to come from the same patch of sky, radiating outwards.

      It's similar to bugs heading towards your windscreen - they all appear to originate from one point (ahead on the highway) but as they get closer they radiate out and hit different parts of the windscreen from your perspective.

      I presume that at this time the radiant was close to 90 degrees overhead - then they would appear to be heading in different directions.

      Perhaps. But in that case I think the meteorites would not 'streak' across the sky; they'd be coming almost straight down. If you were close enough to see them at all they would be going extremely fast and it would be obvious that they were going straight down.

    3. Re:Different directions? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, he is right. Consult any information about meteor watching. Go ahead, do it, and don't just pull stuff out of your ass, because you're wrong.

    4. Re:Different directions? by ColaMan · · Score: 2

      You're not thinking big enough.
      Some would miss the planet entirely.
      Some would graze the edges - these are the ones that look like they are going in different directions to an observer placed centrally on the planet.
      Very few would hit you precisely head on.

      --

      You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
      There is a lot of hype here.
    5. Re:Different directions? by Captain_Chaos · · Score: 1
      You're not thinking big enough.
      Some would miss the planet entirely.
      Some would graze the edges - these are the ones that look like they are going in different directions to an observer placed centrally on the planet.

      Those meteorites wouldn't be visible to you since they would be far beyond the horizon. The Earth's atmoshpere is very thin compared to its circumference and the little bit of the sky that you can see would only have meteorites coming almost straight down. You are correct that they still would appear to be going in all kinds of directions if they're not coming straight at you, but I think it would be obvious that they were going straight down because they would be very close and going extremely fast and not 'streak' and be visible for a long time like the ones from the articles...

    6. Re:Different directions? by ColaMan · · Score: 2

      I may have been exaggerating the point a little for your education, so I'll refer you to this web page that I googled to in less than 30 seconds instead which has a photo showing it:
      Photo of leonids meteor shower

      --

      You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
      There is a lot of hype here.
    7. Re:Different directions? by Captain_Chaos · · Score: 1
      I may have been exaggerating the point a little for your education, so I'll refer you to this web page that I googled to in less than 30 seconds instead which has a photo showing it:
      Photo of leonids meteor shower [cox.net]


      I was trying to make the point that from the description in the article, the objects that were seen didn't appear to be moving in the way you describe.

      Observe that the meteorites in your picture appear to be moving away from the same point, and are only visible for a short stretch. From the articles, the objects that were seen were apparently going all the way across the sky from the east to the west, and all the way from the west to the east the following night. In other words they were going from one part of the sky to another (different parts each night) and not coming from the same point in the sky.

  85. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by Stalyn · · Score: 1

    "Intercourse, PA". Amish! Pennsylvanian Dutch! You're so damned steeped in sex culture you name towns after sexual acts.

    Sure, maybe you should lay off the cultural anthropology classes and stick to hockey.

    (how many canadian street, town, city names have 'moose' in them?)

    --
    The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education. - Paul Feyerabend
  86. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by valmont · · Score: 2

    heh. word up ;] my crenshaw homies r on it.

  87. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by Quirk · · Score: 2

    O.K. aka Izzak Walton... right you are I was trolling.

    --
    "Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
    Cohen
  88. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by bwhaley · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well I'm about 7 miles away from Gunbarrel in Lafayette. It's just a few miles to the east of Boulder. Gunbarrel is a nothing town between Boulder and Longmont. Nothing happens there.

    To stay on topic, however, these "fireballs" are causing the most brilliant members of the Denver area to make their opinions known. Several people, went interviewed on 9 News, were convinced that an airplane had flown into a building...

    Riiighht.

    --
    "I either want less corruption, or more chance
    to participate in it." -- Ashleigh Brilliant
  89. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by silvaran · · Score: 2

    We have guns in Canada???

  90. Somebody Call Art Bell! by n6jpa · · Score: 2, Funny

    http://www.artbell.com/
    No doubt this is the beginning of the end for Colorado as the ALiens are probably kidnaping thousands of people and implanting them with mind control computers that will turn them into mindless Microsoft users. Who Cares.

  91. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by Quirk · · Score: 2

    It was a Cooey long rifle single shot, simple bolt action; I grew up with it as I grew up hunting. If you find my father's serious intent to teach his hunting and wilderness skills to his only son incredible, then you'll be dumbfounded to know I was born having inherited my great grandfathers 1894 44/40 Winchester. I no longer own it although I had a strong attachement to it. My dad's people trapped the tiaga for generations and hunting and wilderness lore were passed on almost like training for a trade.

    --
    "Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
    Cohen
  92. Thank You! by CiXeL · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Someone fucking said it! =)

  93. I actually think I saw one of these by Keyan · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It wasn't one of the most recent fireballs, but the one on September 6th.

    It was probably around 8 at night and I was walking back to my dorm room (Univ of Colorado at Colorado Springs) from work. I was almost back to the campus when I saw a bright but small fireball in the northeast sky. Mostly white with a bluish tinge it moved pretty slowly (for a metor/shooting star) across the sky, parallel to the ground, and leaving behind little particles that glowed briefly before fading away. After about 30 seconds, the fireball itself faded away.

    Since there was a plane in the sky near where I saw it first, I thought it was a firework or something shot from the plane. Maybe the military testing something (who doesn't like a good mystery?). For some reason, a metor never occured to me.

    I've always wanted to see one of these, cool.

    1. Re:I actually think I saw one of these by DuBois · · Score: 1

      I also saw this one on September 6th. I was at a restaurant in Sterling, CO, eating outdoors on the patio. The bright white turned to orange and spit off "sparks", then finally died away to nothingess. It was much slower than a "normal" meteor, but the slowness might be due to its being quite far away and very high in the atmosphere. Everyone on the patio "Ooooh"d and "Ahhhh"d at the spectacular event, but we all concluded that it was a meteor.

      --
      The IPCC has purposely engineered a massive scientific fraud.
  94. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by flying_triguy · · Score: 1

    I would think that your that your post validates his original point that:
    1) you shouldn't point a gun at what you don't intend to shoot.

    if required, I am sure that the cops were prepared to shoot. Not without provocation, but prepared... fer sur

  95. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by Quirk · · Score: 2

    There's just so many ways to reply... but to stay with the ambience... how 'bout we've already kicked your ass at hockey, now we're just trying to help you see things a little more multilaterally. :0

    --
    "Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
    Cohen
  96. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    You wrote: "How typically Canadian. Instilling Canadian gun culture in 4 year old children. Digusting!" Perhaps my perspective stems more from the value and education placed upon a gun.

    Nah, I think your perspective stems more from being Canadian and thus being devoid of a sense of humour. (You are familiar with the recent research that shows Canadians as the nation who just don't get jokes?) You responded in all seriousness, to what was palapably a little jibe at your lambasting of American gun culture.

  97. For the second night in a row... by andhar · · Score: 1

    The test firing/flight of a new, top-secret weapon/aircraft was explained as an incredibly co-incidental pair of meteor entries occuring at roughly the same time and in roughly the same area of the sky.

    Coincidence. Yeah. Right.

    --
    Vaya con huevos, my darling.
  98. Re:It has to be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No it just stopped being funny a long time ago.
    Perhaps you could try something more original?

  99. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by Quirk · · Score: 2

    Dood! William Empson's "Seven Types of Ambiguity" and N.O.Brown's "Life Against Death", wherein he advocated 'polymorphous perversity', informed my posts. I made a lighthearted jibe at a random bit in the newsbyte. When I got some robust replys I decided to play push the button labelled 'American Gun Culture', but I threw in the Monroe Doctrine to see if it would hit a nerve, the 'foreign policy' stuff was mostly a troll.

    --
    "Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
    Cohen
  100. Re:Witness to fat pig eugenia pig bitch loli stain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You keep acting this way and they're going to put you back in.
    Take your meds and go to sleep.

  101. Astronomy courses, and other WEB PAGES by saskboy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Canadian Fireballs ... and other Astronomy information can be had from this website. It is part of my Astronomy professor's site, and he specializes in fireballs.

    --
    Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
  102. good point by flamelord · · Score: 1
    good point russian sighting is probably no coincidence with those from colorado.

    I wonder if govt experts know more about this crossing. Maybe this is coincidence, but I remember recently there were some reports with the concern for unsophisticated countries not being able distinguish meteor impacts from a nuclear attack. Also, what is the Kuiper belt?

    1. Re:good point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Kuiper belt keeps the Kuiper pants from falling down.

    2. Re:good point by dvk · · Score: 2
      From http://www.nineplanets.org/kboc.html:

      The Kuiper Belt is a disk-shaped region past the orbit of Neptune roughly 30 to 100 AU from the Sun containing many small icy bodies. It is now considered to be the source of the short-period comets.

      P.S. Google's your friend.

      Hope this helps.
      -Daniel

      --
      "The right to figure things out for yourself is the only true freedom everyone shares. Go use it"-R.A.Heinlein
  103. the chances of anything coming from .... by tabby · · Score: 1

    just wait till they find the landed cylinders and the fighting machines climbout and start laying waste. Then I guess we'll have to run to Saddam to get some of his biological weapons to fight them. ;-)

    --
    I've experiments to run, there is research to be done on the people who are still alive.
  104. Saw one of these in Ontario... by Cruciform · · Score: 2

    Sept 20th at 0415 in the morning I was locking up the office to go home and as I turned away from the door I saw one go tearing across the sky from high in the southern sky to low in the north. It was amazing... almost the size of a dime in my field of view, bright white/blue with chunks breaking off that flamed orange and maybe a flash of other colors but it was over pretty quickly.
    I thought the Northern Lights were spectacular but this thing blew my mind :)
    I just never want to see one coming right for me.

  105. No Photos? by altinsel · · Score: 5, Funny

    Was I the only one that was expecting some photos at the daily *camera*?

    Anyway, for those of you jealous of Colorado residents, take out your geeked out keychain and stare into the bright blue light. Now step outside and look at the sky. Yeah... it was a lot like that...

    And don't worry, they should go away in a few hours.

    aTek

    1. Re:No Photos? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Re: And don't worry, they should go away in a few hours.

      Pain. Shooting pain. It burns. Damn you slashdotter. damn you all to hell

    2. Re:No Photos? by andrewski · · Score: 2, Informative

      The 'they' that you refer to is retinal imprint - and it doesn't always go away. I have one from a flash in the face that has been with me for 15 years or so now.

      So, please don't shine a bright light directly into your eye. Not that you would anyway... Would you??

  106. Ball lightning by gokulpod · · Score: 1

    Its called Ball lightning, you can often see it in places with dry weather conditions due to static building up in the atmosphere. http://www.eskimo.com/~billb/tesla/ballgtn.html

    --
    My mom never taught me to sign.
    1. Re:Ball lightning by bgeiger · · Score: 1

      It couldn't be that... Ball Lightning hasn't been reprinted since 5th Edition.

      (nerdalert!)

      --
      o/~ All God's children shall be free in Pirates of the Caribbean, when we reach that Magic Kingdom in the sky... o/~
    2. Re:Ball lightning by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I saw a blue fireball on Friday 10-4-02 in Alabama. The Ball Lightning idea does not hold up since this was just after the remains of Lili had passed. Believe me there was plenty of moisture in the air. I am guessing this was some sort of meteor.

    3. Re:Ball lightning by HedRat · · Score: 1

      I saw a blue fireball on Friday 10-4-02 in Alabama.
      I am guessing this was some sort of meteor.

      I'm guessing Billy Bob built the campfire too close to the still.

    4. Re:Ball lightning by juancn · · Score: 1

      I have seen ball lightning during a storm (full-fledged with rain and everything). This was in Córdoba (Argentina).

  107. Im there by Junky191 · · Score: 1

    I live about two miles from the Gunbarrel area, and I this story is the first I've heard about it. The area here consists of a lot of bored hicks, and we all know the sorts of things bored hicks try to generate a ruckus about. Take two Coors Lights and call me in the morning.

  108. Coincidence??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Last night the SciFi channel reran the season four episode of Lexx where Lika's asteroid/invasion mothership crashes into the Pacific and I'm supposed to believe this is just a coincidence?? Yeah right.

    Hey, is that a carrot?

  109. Seek shelter and cover head by djupedal · · Score: 3, Funny
    Happy Fun Ball on the web.

    Discontinue use of Happy Fun Ball if any of the following occurs:
    • Itching
    • Vertigo
    • Dizziness
    • Tingling in extremities
    • Loss of balance or coordination
    • Slurred speech
    • Temporary blindness
    • Profuse sweating
    • Heart palpitations
    If Happy Fun Ball begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head. Happy Fun Ball may stick to certain types of skin.
  110. We come in peace by 1st1 · · Score: 1

    Please no birds!

    --
    NullPointerException
  111. Tom Bearden was Right! by DGolden · · Score: 2

    Clearly the work of Aum Shinryiko and the Scalar Interferometry Machines leased from the KGB. See here

    --
    Choice of masters is not freedom.
    1. Re:Tom Bearden was Right! by DGolden · · Score: 1

      Jeez. For the humour-impaired: :-)

      --
      Choice of masters is not freedom.
  112. Another of Saddam's Weapons of Mass Destruction! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Listen you American infidels, you have just seen a demonstration of my latest weapon of mass destruction -- the Jerry Lee Lewis Gun!

    Using this fabulous weapon, designed by my second cousin twice removed (and once tortured) Ahmed, I can take out any city on the continental USA!

    With the flick of my finger (oh, not that finger -- yuck, where's my handkerchief) I can cause great balls of fire to rain down on your puny country.

    The stupid UN weapons inspectors will never find this new weapon because it is carefully hidden in the grand pianos littered about my presidential palaces -- Ahh! Mohamed, where is the backspace key? ^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H. Are you sure that won't show up when I press Submut? Okay.

    Where was I? Oh yes...

    Here is my demand. I will destroy the USA in exactly 24 hours unless you pay me.... one MILLION dollars!

    What's that Osama? A million isn't enough?

    Okay... unless you pay me TWO million dollars!

    Ha ha ha... who's laughing now eh Bush?

    The clock is counting down. Ahmed, why isn't that clock counting down... it's just ticking and counting forwards like a regular clock?

    Don't be smart Ahmed or I'll slap the brown right off you! Guards... see to it that Ahmed's mother catches anthrax will you...

    Stop your snivelling or I'll feed you to the camels. What.. is this microphone still on?

    [click]

  113. Re:death to eugenia fat bitch cunt whore loli by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How long did it take you to write all that? I didn't even read it. It looked boring.

  114. Re:Unfortunately I don't remember the place by ParrotDroppings · · Score: 1

    That is because *they* don't want you to...

    I kinda remember it being called an area lager than 42 or something...

    --
    Free ?! Does that mean I can't get a Discount ?!
    This message was /.'ed
  115. It's a ship falling to earth by TalShiar00 · · Score: 1

    The news claimed that it was an optical illustion of the sun playing with the upper atmosphere. Ya, right, like I didn't hear that in MIB.

    You know it was the replicator controled Tok'ra ship falling to earth. ;)

  116. Oh Brother... by tkrotchko · · Score: 2

    If you read the article you'll notice an utter and complete lack of any facts.

    This reminds me of Orson Well's war of the worlds, but boys, isn't this about 3 weeks early to start this kind of story?

    --
    You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
  117. Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "My history comes from 6 prior generations of Canadians "

    Canada isn't that old.

    Up until about 1890 the country was overrun by fur traders and indians, many of them french.

    it is an historical fact that Canada was made of crown loyalist who objected to US's war of independence with England.

    No matter how you slice it, its not terribly flattering to the people of Canada and explains your genetic predisposition towards listening to authority like sheep.

  118. Fireballs in France too by dolmen.fr · · Score: 2, Informative

    Hey, I'm not the only one to have seen this!!

    I live in France, in Choisy-le-Roi, at 12 km of Paris.
    At about 20:00 UTC (22:00 localtime) with (+-10 minutes of error), I've seen one fireball falling. I don't know the size and the distance at which it falled. But the direction was 170 degrees from my position. It didn't falled directly from up to down but with a small deviation from east to west.

    I've called the local autorithy (Gendarmerie Nationale) at about 23:40 (localtime) but they said they had no other report.

    Am I the only one to have seen this in France ?

    1. Re:Fireballs in France too by dolmen.fr · · Score: 2, Informative

      Correction: the small (less than 10 degrees) deviation was from west to east. 170 degrees is the azimuth of the land point.

      I've seen it trough a window, while watching TV. The land point was hidden to me by the house of one of my neighboors.

  119. Re:It has to be... by ObitMan · · Score: 1, Insightful

    There is no George W jr.
    George H Bush is the Father
    George W Bush is the son. you have to have the same full name to be a jr.
    Appropiate slights on him are: Shrub and Dubya.
    I'm sure there are others.
    His alchoholic daughters are hot.
    I'd poke 'em.

    --
    Who run Barter Town?
  120. It's _definitely_... by tisaak · · Score: 1

    ... the first Martians arriving to Earth. I guess after their failure in London, they are now trying their luck in the US...

  121. This sounds familiar by sunspot55 · · Score: 1
    Sunday night, also about 7:20, a fireball with a long tail of green, orange and purple flames was seen across the Western sky
    Hmm.... this sounds a lot like the missile launch that I remember seeing here in Nor Cal that took off from Vandenberg AFB back around 2000 when they were testing the missile defense shield whatever. Sounds like they could possibly be up to some tricks again.
  122. me thinks... by Zugok · · Score: 1

    remember the guy with the sodium, yeah I think that's him...

    --
    "I just can't sit while people are saying nonsense in a meeting without saying it's nonsense" J Watson, Sci Am 288:(4)51
  123. Re:Fireballs Rapidly Descending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What fucking moron moderated this troll up? Must be you idiot European moderators on duty for the overnight shift. Sheesh. Saddam Hussein is an evil dictator tht kills tens of thousands of his own people. We've had to impose no fly restrctions on that country to get him from using his air force to kill his own people! Iraq lost a war that he initiated by invading a neighboring country and as a result you need to pay a price. If you work on developing weapons of mass destruction when the results of the cease fire say you cannot then there are repercussions to pay. Suck it up liberal dogooders. Iraq's day will come and the USA will prevail against the horrible monsters there.

  124. Uhh, by bwalling · · Score: 1

    Hundreds of people in Colorado and 7 surrounding states have reported seeing "fireballs" in the night sky. They are described as being 10 to 15 times larger than a normal shooting star and bluish in color. Two people even claimed to see one land, but it has yet to be found.

    Jim, have you been near the Kool-Aid again?

  125. The famous honorable "another witness". by Qbertino · · Score: 3, Funny

    Another witness reported seeing a bluish object about 10 to 15 times the size of a typical shooting star streak across the southwestern sky Monday night south of Boulder.

    Wasn't that the guy who asked Kevin Kostner to call him "Mr. X" in the JFK movie?
    From what I understand this is the same guy that also saw that indestructable "tin-foil" laying around in Maricopa by Roswell after that big bang one night. And he once had a Job on Area 51 and had this bumb-in with a small greyish green bug-eyed humanoid in a silver spandex jumpsuit.
    I know that guy. He's absolutely trustworthy.
    Really.

    --
    We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
  126. Large Shooting Star in Michigan by biznatch · · Score: 1

    Tuesday night around 9:00PM EST I saw a fairly large "shooting star", it took a few seconds to cross the sky. I saw it through quite a bit of light pollution too, but I've actually seen a fireball while I was in Badlands National Park a few years back. This was no fireball, but definetly not the norm.

  127. The Terrible Secret Of Space by BenJeremy · · Score: 1

    You have witnessed a bit of the terrible secret of space. Let me push you, to prevent any more from being revealed to you....

  128. Fireball in Russia also reported by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Apparently another one landed in Russia - there is a fresh impact crater reported at wired.com

  129. Odd! by jcsitte · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Seems to be an invasion according my data! Fire at will!

  130. Coincidence? by Stultsinator · · Score: 2

    Okay, here's my wild speculation to add to the bunch: These fireballs remarkably coincide with a space shuttle launch. I think they were caused by either debris or other "stuff" originating from the craft.

  131. Sighting 35 years ago in WIsconsin by airship · · Score: 1

    When I was a teenager we were on vacation in the Wisconsin Dells around my birthday in early August, which just happens to coincide with one of the biggest and best annual meteor showers. I saw quite a few 'normal' shooting stars that night, but I also saw one weird, slow, silent, huge orange fireball. Though I've looked for years, I've never found an explanation of just what I saw.

    --
    Serving your airship needs since 1995.
  132. Re:The explanation by back_pages · · Score: 2
    Did you know that fishballs are a popular snackfood in Hong Kong (probably elsewhere in Asia as well)? Not testicles, just balls. They take fish parts, grind it up into a greenish paste, sort of like mashed potatoes, then deep fry them. These are skewered in little sticks like fish ball kabobs, sprinkled with soy sauce, and sold by street vendors.

    I'm not a big fan of seafood, but my girlfriend insisted I try one of her favorite childhood foods. It tasted about like shoving a live bass in your mouth and licking it as furiously as possible.

    My girlfriend's aunt told me, "We Chinese people, for many years we do not have many things to eat, so we learn to eat anything!" and laughed and laughed. I just said, "No shit, but the frog ovaries aren't half bad."

  133. I Saw one by freakyfreak2 · · Score: 1

    I was driving my friend home in eastern minnesoata after a concert and saw it streaking down the sky. I have been wondering what it could have been to set off that blue color. Well at least now I know I am not crazy and did see it.

    1. Re:I Saw one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm in SE Minnesota. When was this? Details please?

      OldTomB_61@yahoo.com

    2. Re:I Saw one by freakyfreak2 · · Score: 1

      Well your email doesn't work. Send me an email from a valid address.

  134. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by RebelTycoon · · Score: 1

    yes... but only the government and criminals...

    its a secret... we have lost our rights!

  135. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by glesga_kiss · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    We have guns in Canada???

    Of course. It would be hard not to, with your southern neighbours love affair with the things. It's a big border...

  136. Saw it too.. In Sweden. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    While driving home from work monday night, I saw something that looked like a usual falling star. But then again, it was rather big and it's tail sparkled with white and yellow sparkles. And I am sure that it wasn't someone wasting fireworks.

    This happened in Malmoe Sweden.

    1. Re:Saw it too.. In Sweden. by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 1
      Same one. . ?

      I commented on this a few posts down. Here's the link if you're interested. . .


      -Fantastic Lad

  137. Perhaps by The+Dobber · · Score: 2

    Carmack and his merry band got more than the advertised 6 secs of flight. Where exactly is Armadillo Aerospace located?

  138. Re:The explanation by HedRat · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Isn't it obvious? It's Jerry Lee Lewis's career.

  139. It's Only the End of the World! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Relax, nothing to worry about. They are only beginning to immanentize the eschaton!

    (With apologies to Robert Anton Wilson)

  140. All your base are belong to us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thank you and good day.

    Sincerely,

    Your alien masters.

  141. It picked me up with its mind powers... by BoBaBrain · · Score: 1

    And shook me like a dog.

    --
    I am a Karma Library.
  142. I caught one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, I caught one. It's 34lbs and it looks like my grandfather had it for years in his closet. I was thinking of posting an "Ask Slashdot" to find out what I can get for it.

  143. Re:death to eugenia fat bitch cunt whore loli by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hey loser nutsack cheese. This article isn't even from osnews. Didn't read your crap either. Perhaps you could try a little more eloquence instead of being a troll. I'm posting as AC to avoid getting you any more attention that my +2 might bring.

    JOhn

  144. War on Quaoar! by dtabraha · · Score: 1


    The Quaoarian people know that we have spotted their planet, and now they are attacking us with their fireball launchers before we realize their hostile intentions!

    Too bad X-Files has been cancelled, now we're all screwed!

  145. It's probably Nate by spudwiser · · Score: 2

    Burning down Hemos' house wasn't enough. Now he's trying to burn down Colorado.

    --
    .cig - what you do after winning a good flame war
  146. Coincidence May Be Enough by Cujo · · Score: 1

    Quite often, coincidence is the only explanation you need. We just tend to notice coincidences and dismiss the randomness - our brains are well adapted to do that. Spotting correlations is critical to survival. Coincident data points are necessary, but not sufficient for corelation.

    --

    Helium balloons want to be free.

    1. Re:Coincidence May Be Enough by Malcontent · · Score: 2

      What if Newton thought the same thing when an apple fell on his head. Instead of thinking "it's just a coincidence" he gave it some thought and changed history.

      The mark of a true scientist is to stop and wonder why.

      --

      War is necrophilia.

    2. Re:Coincidence May Be Enough by Sibelius · · Score: 1

      As best as anyone knows, no apple ever fell on Newton's head while he was sitting under a tree pondering. It's just a cute story -- probably invented by Hallmark.

      Interesting, though, that you said he changed history. Anyone remember the movie "The Last of the Mohicans"? In a scene, the French are bombarding a British fort, and you can see someone holding a plumb bob to calculate 45 with respect to the ground and the trajectory of a mortar. (45 is the ideal angle to launch a projectile at for maximum distance without taking into account any other forces.)

    3. Re:Coincidence May Be Enough by Malcontent · · Score: 2

      The newton episode may have been a cute story but the underlying principle is solid. The entire quantum mechanics grew out of Max Planck's asking the seemingly stupid question "why does a black metal turn red when you heat it"?

      I never saw the movie sorry.

      --

      War is necrophilia.

  147. Carbon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe soon they'll invent a tree that can remove carbon dioxide from the air and embed it in it's trunk or something, which can then be buried into ground, and thus slow down global warming...

    Hmm... Wait a minute...

  148. Timely Coupon by theroterts · · Score: 1

    I can't be the only one who noticed the "Liquor Mart" banner ad across the top of this article and down the right side. Why there's even a $5 off coupon. Perhaps that could have something to do with the "sightings." Man, I'm cynical today.

    --
    ?SYNTAX ERROR IN SIG

    READY.
  149. Witness Part XII by big_groo · · Score: 2

    Last year, while sitting on a dock in Northern Ontario (nice beer drinkin' summer night), my friends and I saw a blue meteor streak across the sky. Now, we weren't sure if it was the pot or the beer...but out of nowhere, we saw this meteor streak from East to West, clear across the horizon. Beautiful, really. The front was blue, and the tail was a light orange color. The really cool thing about it was that you could actually *hear* it.

    We weren't sure if we were actually seeing what we were seeing (remember - pot and beer) until we heard a kid from about 10 cottages down yell: "MOM!!! LOOK!!!" Lasted about 10 seconds. (or six minutes, depending on your state of mind)

    Needless to say, our wives didn't believe us. (one look at the bong, and all we got was "uh huh. Sure you did...".)

  150. Sunday Colorado Fireball by Bri3D · · Score: 1

    I was driving east on I-70 just east of DeBeque on Sunday evening. I saw a HUGE flash, and leaned forward to be able to see up out of the windshield. I saw the most incredible fireball heading from my right to my left and back a little. Generally north, but the highway twists around so much in that stretch I couldn't tell for sure. Man, was that cool. I honestly thought some kid had shot a roman candle at us. It was huge, intense, and leaving an orange and green tail. As it went, little sparks fell off of it. I only saw it for an instant, as it was really moving. Just awesome.

  151. THIS MUST BE A BETTER SOURCE THAN TEH CAMERA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    These are the same people who reported that it would be a crime if the penises that were hanging in the boulder public or should it be pubic library were removed and replaced with am american flag after 9/11.

  152. On the scene by pizza_milkshake · · Score: 3, Funny
    Field reports invited.

    I'm here at the crash scene... there is a glow and a deep hum and a glow coming from the crater... a door is opening... oh my god... they're coming towards me... this is the most incredible thing i've ever trererewwerw

  153. They're getting worried by CelticWhisper · · Score: 1

    They're not actually fireballs. They're the emergency escape shuttles for the RIAA members. They know that Peer-to-Peer sharing is here to stay, and that customers are getting pissed, so they're hightailing it off the planet and going home to Alpha Copyrightiapissathelistenersoffa 5.

    --
    Help protect civil rights from abuse by the TSA - visit TSA News Blog.
    http://www.tsanewsblog.com
  154. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by Firehand · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, I happen to work in the Gunbarrel area, and I just happened to be near the airport the article mentions at about the time (extreme coincidence, I won't go into details here).

    The only bright light I saw was an airplane landing at said airport. Personally, I think what was going on was a lot of drug use. (Yes, there is enough drug use in the Boulder area to have 60 people mystified by an airplane landing.)

  155. Is Wisconsin considered nearby? by Pushnell · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I live in northcentral Wisconsin, and I happened to have been driving last night at about 2am (*ahem* ....) when I saw something extremely similar to these fireballs. The one I saw was relatively slow-moving (about a 2-second display,) and appeared in the eastern sky. Extremely large (approx 10x usual meteorite size) and blueish in color, it traveled in a nearly vertical line from about 70 degrees to below the tree line. (15 degrees?) I never saw it burn out. It left no vapor trail, and I immediately slowed my vehicle & rolled down my window, but heard no sound.

    Perhaps these things are happening over a larger range than previously thought?

  156. Rhetoric, meet Reality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that kills tens of thousands of his own people.

    The Kurds, who were gassed, are not "his people." They are an independant group in north Iraq. There is now a no fly zone, and the North is, for the most part, absent of any official Iraqi presence.

    Iraq lost a war that he initiated by invading a neighboring country.

    Hussain invaded Kuwait because George Bush gave it the go ahead first. Also, his chemical weapons came from the United States, during the Iran-Iraq conflict.

    USA will prevail against the horrible monsters there.

    Oh, you mean Enron?

    1. Re:Rhetoric, meet Reality by JimFromJersey · · Score: 1

      > The Kurds, who were gassed, are not "his people."

      He has also killed killed people in Southern Iraq. IIRC it's some shite vs. sunni thing.

      > Hussain invaded Kuwait because George Bush gave it the go ahead first.

      Source please, something other then bedwettingliberals.com

      > his chemical weapons came from the United States

      wrong, while we did send him samples and technology (which I will not defend) his chem weapons were homemade.

      > Oh, you mean Enron?

      I didn't know Enron is Iraqi. I'll tell you who is over there Russia, France, and China.

      --
      between the greater and lesser infinities sleep the dreams undreamt
  157. Nah! Not Triffids. Martians! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anybody who pays attention to such things knows that Mars is coming into its nearest approach to Earth in a long time.

    They've been waiting a long time for this!

    And when they find that the "fireball" is really a cylinder with a screw off top...hoo boy.

    It's tripod time.

    1. Re:Nah! Not Triffids. Martians! by uncoveror · · Score: 2

      Yes, it is the Martians, or Zhti Ti Kofft as they call themselves. The fireballs were warning shots. If they really fired the death ray, the oceans would have vaporized, covering the earth with a killing hot steam. Let us be thankful we haven't made them angry enough to really attack.

      --
      The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
  158. I knew this was going to happen by deaddeng · · Score: 2

    AMD crashed and burned.

    --
    --- .085 as cool; proving that a little knowledge is dangerous
  159. Thanks for the Links by WoodsDweller · · Score: 1
    I actually saw the meteor Monday night (very cool!). It was a large, green oval, perhaps a quarter of the size of a full moon, trailing orange sparks. I had been looking for somewhere to report it. Silly me, I should have just reported it to /.!

    I followed the link from the Daily Camera to a site that was collecting info. Since most sightings indicated the meteor to the west, and I saw it to the east, maybe they can triangulate. I saw it near the horizon, so it may have been large enough to hit the ground.

    --
    There are two kinds of societies: sustainable and doomed.
  160. in ORegon too! by steveargonman · · Score: 1

    No shit, I saw one the other morning here in Medford, OR! It was cool as hell.

  161. Daily Camera? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "The Daily Camera is reporting it online"

    Or should that be Daily Chimera...

  162. losing your legs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    if your legs hurt that bad, you might as well get rid of them. people do fine without them.

    1. Re:losing your legs by scotch · · Score: 1

      This is one case where "loosing" would be better (at least funnier).

      --
      XML causes global warming.
  163. I saw things too... by raretek · · Score: 1

    Other than when I was a child, I never really gave much thought to UFOs. However, I did have an experience with *unidentified flying objects*(for you have literates, this means I saw objects that I could not identify flying, not that I saw alien spacecraft, UFO != alien spacecraft).

    I was at Clearlake with some friends about 4 years back, it was a new moon and you could see satelites with the naked eye. My friend had tried to tell me about "ufos" he saw, but I laughed at him as he was a Sightings fan and well, believed the things that Sightings fans believed...

    Eventually, we all began to see what looked like satellites, except they moved all throughout the night sky. They were tiny points of light, so they could have been just about anything, but they moved across the sky at very fast speeds, to get to one end of the sky from the other took them about 15 to 20 seconds. If that's all they did, I'd say "satellite" but then the little buggers would do right angle turns and contine towards a different section of the sky altogether, sometimes pausing, other times simply turning to a different direction. They would occasionally go to the same section of the sky, seem to meet up, pause for a moment or two, and then continue to move around the sky. It went on for hours, and was still occuring when we finally packed it in and went to sleep. We saw them on every subsequent night after that.

    Personally, I believe that they are experimental aircraft of some type, probably unmanned, but that's pure speculation on my part. I only know I saw these wierd points of light doing things that I had previously thought was impossible. I didn't get abducted or probed or anything like that, but I did see those lights, and all my friends saw them. I personally believe that anyone will see them if they go to a remote location(away from light pollution) on a new moon and just watch the sky. If you can see satellites with the naked eye, I believe you will see those lights, as a few of my friends have seen them on subsequent trips.

    --
    Show me an effect without cause and then I'll believe in chaos.
    1. Re:I saw things too... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0



      The skeptic in me says 'insects'. (high enough up so it's difficult to focus on them, reflecting light from distant sources...)

      Otherwise, a very interesting story.

    2. Re:I saw things too... by raretek · · Score: 1

      "The skeptic in me says 'insects'. (high enough up so it's difficult to focus on them, reflecting light from distant sources...)"

      If there is a way an insect could appear to be a point of light just like a star, then I'm open to that being a possibility. It's just harder for me to believe that, than experimental aircraft. I'd totally encourage you to go to a remote location during a new moon, far away from light pollution. I'm confident you will see similar things.

      --
      Show me an effect without cause and then I'll believe in chaos.
  164. War of the Worlds? by iontyre · · Score: 1

    United States, Britain, New Zealand, all seeing similar fireballs within a week of each other? A report of one coming down in Siberia? Is this some elaborate worldwide hoax? Sounds much too suspiciously like "War of the Worlds"! Even the time of year is right! This is definitely weird!

    If it is a relatively new debris stream from a comet or something, I hope nothing really big is coming!

    --
    VASIMR to Mars!
  165. Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ooh, those fireballs, they're beautiful! I've not seen colours like that before. ... Ia! Ia! Cthulhu
    fhtagn! Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh fhtagn!

  166. Oh my.. by Dareth · · Score: 1

    Did the goatse.cx guy start trying to ignite his farts again!?!

    --

    I only look human.
    My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
    1. Re:Oh my.. by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Did the goatse.cx guy start trying to ignite his farts again!?!

      That is how he *got* that way

  167. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by Zerelli · · Score: 0

    I got my first BB gun when I was 6 and my first shotgun when I was 10. I was firing rifles and shotguns by 8 and hunting rabbits and birds at that point. It is very common in rural areas. It is also why you see fewer accidental shootings. We had conservation officers teaching gun safety as early as third grade in school. City kids learn about guns watching TV.

  168. Unidentified Flying Objects, yep! by Interrobang · · Score: 2

    I once saw what I thought was a satellite or a high-flying aircraft passing through the night sky roughly from south to north -- until it made a 90-degree turn almost directly overhead and accelerated so fast it was out of sight in about 1/2 second. (If you know how slow high-flying aircraft and satellites appear from the ground, you'll know that to cover 50% of the sky in almost no time at all is fast.) I didn't hear anything either.

    When I mentioned it to my dad, who's a pilot and can identify almost every man-made flying thing in existence from minimal cues, he said he had no idea what it was either. My guess is an experimental unmanned aircraft, but it seems unusual that someone would be testing such a thing over London, Ontario.

    1. Re:Unidentified Flying Objects, yep! by Tripster · · Score: 1

      I saw something similar one night.

      Most nights I can sit out on my deck and watch the satellites cruise across the sky, they take 2-5 minutes to traverse this most of the time.

      One night I noticed one that was moving a little faster than normal, it was also bluish, and like you I witnessed this thing do a 90-degree turn and speed off.

      It was weird to see, I'm generally used to weird things in the sky, but that made my draw drop. If it's out tech, then we have stuff now that the public isn't aware off, if it's not our tech, who is it?

    2. Re:Unidentified Flying Objects, yep! by raretek · · Score: 1

      "My guess is an experimental unmanned aircraft, but it seems unusual that someone would be testing such a thing over London, Ontario."

      I thought about that too, with regards to testing that over Lake County california, but then I realized, this sky, she is very very big. :) If you had craft that could do this, it would be visible probably throughout the sky of whatever hemisphere you're flying it through.

      But again, pure conjecture on my part. Have no real clue what I saw or what anyone else saw. A point of light could be just about anything...

      --
      Show me an effect without cause and then I'll believe in chaos.
  169. I Saw One In Alabama Friday Night by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was driving from Montgomery, AL to Birmingham, AL on I-65 late Friday Night (10-4-02). My wife an I both observed a blue "fireball" streaking from the sky toward the horizon. This was much larger than the traditional shooting star or meteor.

  170. Grooann... Another &#^@! MSDS to find! by Interrobang · · Score: 3, Funny

    Composition [Class III Fireball - Do not handle without proper training and protection. Consult your handbook.]

    Oh no! Fireballs have HMIS information?! I already have to find the rest of those 10 000 Material Safety Data Sheets for work; where oh where am I going to find contact information for "Fireball Manufacturers"?

    As if my job weren't tough enough...

    Interrobang, Conscript MSDS Updater

  171. i saw one in hawaii by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    in feb this year, i was in maui and saw one of these large blue fireballs shoot accross the sky, i swear it lit up the whole island for about 1 second. i never heard anything about it, nor have I seen anything like it again.

  172. No way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At first I was totally believing this story, but then when I reread it and saw this:

    ...I and an old girlfriend...

    Then I knew you were lying.

  173. Another eyewitness. by incom · · Score: 1

    I saw one last January. It did indeed look like a very large and green shooting star. This sighting was in northern Ontario Canada at about 8:30pm.

    --
    True genius is grasping a situation like a peice of fruit, and peircing it just right so that it drains dry.
  174. LOL! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    1. Re:LOL! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      kuro5hin.org is lame. go away

  175. Military testing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    There were a number of rumors of certain advanced aircraft being developed during the Reagan and elder Bush administrations. These dried up during the Clinton years (well, the DNC -did- sell our nuclear secrets to the People's Liberation Army in exchange for campaign contributions)

    Now Bush jr. is in office for perhaps long enough for these to have been removed from mothballs and are again being tested, perhaps on an accelerated schedule.

    These may include the diamond shaped craft and the boomerang shaped craft seen in Canada last week.

    Pulse jets with orbital capability, plasma emissions to lower air resistance and increase lift, etc, could plausibly all be in testing at present.

    Recall the UFO sightings prior to the unveiling of the late 70s technology B-2 bombers?

    If they all had the same radiant, with random arrival times and locations, I'd be inclined to think a cometary debris field (though I'd expect lots of non-fireballs as well). But this is not the case.

    One such object apparently crashed in northern Russia last week.

  176. saw something similar but purple ... by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 2

    It was 54 years ago in central Italy, driving at night on a desert mountain road. I saw a fiery fireball in the sky, moving slowly from left to right.

    I had the time to: understand (maybe) what it was, wake up my wife, stop the car, get out an look. Total time maybe 20 seconds. The 'object' was moving slowly, spewing green flames and eaving a long lasting orange trail behind. Trajectory was more or less horizontal. It disapeared in a flash.

    I (and a bunch of other people) saw something similar at Lake Tahoe a few years back. Distinctly purple, slow moving, leaving trail, no sound, no flash.

    Turned out to be a space shuttle re-entering on its way to Cape Canaveral. The purple is due to the composition of the tiles. The final orbit and upper-atmosphere reentry is visible over Tahoe due to the inclination. (I think that's a side-effect of chosing an inclination that lets them switch to Vandenberg [on the next pass?] if the weather at Canaveral is too crummy.)

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    1. Re:saw something similar but purple ... by hitzroth · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      "it was 54 years ago"

      "Turned out to be a space shuttle re-entering on its way to Cape Canaveral"

      This would be the space shuttle that was launched some 9 years before Sputnick, right?

      --
      In mathematics, one does not understand things, one merely gets used to them.
      --VonNeumann
    2. Re:saw something similar but purple ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you only read every other paragraph? He is describing two incidents -- one 54 years ago and one a "few years ago" in Tahoe.

    3. Re:saw something similar but purple ... by maniac11 · · Score: 2

      He just forgot to italicize or blockquote the first to paragraphs, which are from this post. Give him a break...

      --
      Guvegrra?
  177. Don't sweat yourself. by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 1, Offtopic
    I don't know if you're telling the truth or not, but I am more than inclined to think you're a very cool guy nonetheless, simply from reading through some of your previous posts.

    Hats off to you, sir. You have a good mind.

    BTW, people who are actively reaching for their higher selves do tend to be more aware of the fucked up stuff going on in the skies these days. Most of the brain damaged posters who responded to your story would most likely not even be able to recall witnessing such an event at all.

    --And not just because the bulk of zombie nation are ill-inclined to do any sort of hiking in the wilderness, (hiking and star gazing on top of old caves is a true sign of coolness!), but because they have that amazing ability to re-boot their brains at the first sign of trouble. Perhaps you know what I'm talking about. --I've witnessed numerous times where people have been shown 'impossible' things point-blank, which they actually cannot remember as little as half a day later, or which they radically warp and re-write in their own memories so that it may be quickly dismissed.

    Both small and great minds think alike, but the small ones only do so because they all watched the last episode of 'Friends'.

    BTW, have you been watching? Didja catch the last 5 big-assed meteors over the last month and half? I tend to think it's just the beginning. Should be interesting, regardless!


    Take care!


    -Fantastic Lad

    1. Re:Don't sweat yourself. by Afrosheen · · Score: 2

      I missed the meteors (living in Dallas = light pollution from hell) but like I said in an earlier post, a co-worker spotted one. He'll be excited to hear about lots of other people seeing equally stunning meteors.

      And thanks for the praise. :)

    2. Re:Don't sweat yourself. by 1lus10n · · Score: 0

      no actually living in NYC=light polution hell. everyplace else can fight for second.

      --
      "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." --Albert Einstein
  178. I think i saw one.. by robotbebop · · Score: 1

    Last week i was riding my bike to work around 4:30-5:00 AM PST (I live in BC, Canada) And i saw this white-blueish fireball.. it had sparks and the like flying off of it, sorta like how it's desribed in the article. It was really cold and really clear out, when those are the conditions you can see lots of things you usually can't see here, like the Northern Lights that i think i saw too :)

  179. $200.00 for a broken meteor! by RatBastard · · Score: 2

    I wouldn't give you $0.50!

    --
    Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
  180. Just the beginning. . ? by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 1, Troll
    Has anybody else been paying attention? This thing with big-ass meteors appears to be new. (And on right time, actually. . .)

    oct 6-02

    sep13-02

    Sep12-02

    sep10-02

    aug26-02 aprox

    But don't let this affect your consumerist activities, citizen. The government is already throwing up some "don't panic" propaganda.

    "Asteroids regularly explode over the Earth with the intensity of a nuclear bomb; the explosions could be mistaken for a nuclear attack and even trigger an atomic war, an Air Force general said Thursday. - At least 30 times a year, a space rock measuring a few yards across slashes into the atmosphere and explodes, releasing energy equal to that of an atomic bomb, Air Force Brig. Gen. Simon Worden told subcommittee members."

    Oh really? 30 times a year? This is the first I've ever heard about it.

    Meanwhile, the powerbrokers in the know are quietly preparing to withdraw, (after killing all the jews and arabs), into their Shadow Government strongholds beneath whatever mountain range they think will save their asses from the end of the world. Silly rabbits!

    Okay, that's my two cents. You may now return to Quake or whatever. Cheers!


    -Fantastic Lad

  181. How do they discover this shit? by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 2

    I bet that somewhere there's a list that looks like this:

    Poodle: Cooked meat.
    Goldfish: Popped.
    Cat: Incomplete, hard to catch.
    Pickle: Glows. (?!)
    Beer: No way.
    Cousin Ellie: Incomplete, won't talk to me now.
    Bug: Zap. ... and so on.

  182. US Air Force Secret Bases in Colorado by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The new secret airforces bases where they do their top secret research similar to the work done on the stealh technology in the 80s is now done in the mountains of Colorado.

    New Mexicans and citizens of Nevada used to report all kinds of anomolies when the work was done near them.

    Coincidence?

  183. god sneezes by Guipo · · Score: 0

    gazunheit!

    --
    Theonlyuse of monkeys is to testthings onthem.Some peoplemay say"Hey That'scruel!"and myresponse is"I don't like monkeys
  184. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You spelt Marikan wrong! What is ya, a Fariner?

  185. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by ek_adam · · Score: 1

    I got my first rifle when I was six. On the other hand I didn't have unsupervised access to ammunition until I was 14.

  186. alternate theory by Preposterous+Coward · · Score: 2

    I seem to recall there was an alternate theory for the apparent patterns in mass extinctions, having to do IIRC with the solar system's periodic crossing of the galactic plane (and the associated greater number of chunks of things big enough to cause climate-altering impacts, etc.).

    --

    "Biped! Good cranial development. Evidently considerable human ancestry."
    1. Re:alternate theory by jafuser · · Score: 1
      chunks of things big enough to cause climate-altering impacts

      Yeah, you gotta watch out for those CTBECCAIs... :o)

      --
      Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF
    2. Re:alternate theory by Paul+03244 · · Score: 1

      I remember reading that also, in Sci. American IIRC. The authors said that the interval period was about 65 million years. Scary coincidence; the dinosaurs died out ~65 million years ago--draw your own conclusions.

  187. I tend to agree. by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 0, Troll
    Cool! You know about the Kuiper belt activity. You're tuned in!

    Problem is, this is probably going to wipe out most of the Earth's population before the end of the decade. We're supposed to see a small surge of debris hitting the planet, (this current one), a subsiding, and then the sky will literally fall, (and THAT is what will finally break the U.S.'s back.) I'm afraid I don't actually know how long we have, but it's probable that Bush will have enough time to kill all the Jews and kill all the Arabs. (Both parties making up the Semites.)

    See my comment on this story for links to the last 5 big meteor events since October. If you're interested, that is.


    -Fantastic Lad

    1. Re:I tend to agree. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks for the warning.
      How long have you been a nutbar?

  188. There is no end... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    To the depths of stupidity and paranoid delision rampant on this site. Thanks for your "input". I'll file it appropriately.

    1. Re:There is no end... by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 1
      To the depths of stupidity and paranoid delision rampant on this site. Thanks for your "input". I'll file it appropriately.

      Hm. An 'AC'? What a surprise.

      Get a name, get informed, or go buzz around somebody else's ears, you silly gnat.


      -Fantastic Lad

  189. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by zapfie · · Score: 2

    How does it feel to be an elitist pig?

    --
    slashdot!=valid HTML
  190. Nibiru is DIS-INFO. by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 1, Troll
    That whole Planet X thing is just another dumb-ass distraction. --But there IS a phenomenon at work.

    here's a story from last year about the ark twin star, (a big ball of hydrogen which never got quite big enough to ignite, but which is more than large enough to send some planet killing debris from the Kuiper belt, thank you very much!)

    So there ain't no aliens living in Planet X coming to resuce everybody who's been good and loving. That and all the other CIA induced New-Age crapola regarding "Nibiru" is, IMHO, pure & stinking bunk.

    However, I tend to be of the thinking that the dark-star came and went about a year and a half ago; there were several half-assed "Do Not Panic, Citizen", plant stories circulating regarding this phenomenon around that time, (put there in the event that anybody on this globe might wake up and realized what was happening. That obviously didn't happen. --Or at least not with anybody who had access to a decent telescope at the time. . .).

    In any case, the Dark Star has most likely done its work. There have been 5 other big-assed meteor strikes over the last month and a half alone. . .

    Check my post on this story for links to stories of those events.


    -Fantastic Lad

  191. skunk works Re:weatherballoons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The US Airforce Space Warfare center is in Colorado:

    map

    I have also read that Area 51, the 'secret' research base was moved to a remote location in CO. I can't find a link about htis right now.

  192. Burning Legion by rendermouse · · Score: 1


    Blizzard tried to warn us, but nooooooooooooooo. We were busy crushing newbies online. Now the Burning Legion is upon us, and I don't think our hero, George W., has leveled up yet.

    We at least need more time to creep.

    --
    "Follow your Bliss." -- Joseph Campbell
  193. And in other news... by bmalia · · Score: 4, Funny

    Millions of slashdot'ers have electrocuted themselves today...

    Here's an interesting thing to try-- Stick a couple of old forks in a pickle with the handles pointing away from each other. Split a power cord down the middle and attach some alligator clips to the cut off part. Attach the clips to the forks and put the plug in the wall. After a few seconds, you'll see the pickel glow yellow between where the forks are stuck in the pickle. It's pretty neat to watch.

    --
    There's no place like ~/
    1. Re:And in other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Millions of slashdot'ers have electrocuted themselves today...

      Its a natural wholesome method of trimming the fat on this bloating population of geeks.

  194. Just for kicks.. by mindstrm · · Score: 1

    I'll say there is no way to determine the odds of him cheating; there is no relevant statistical information provided.

    1. Re:Just for kicks.. by X · · Score: 1

      That's exactly the point. People tend to think statistics are relevant even when they aren't. DNA evidence is similarly misleading.

      --
      sigs are a waste of space
  195. ALEINS~!@F FMFG!@DFC by REDNOROCK · · Score: 0

    "We come in peace! (shoot to kill, shoot to kill.)"

    --
    Even if I say something insightfull or inteligent, it doens't matter cause I'm an ass.
  196. How Pathetic! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It just goes to show you how unused to astronomical events people are. As an amateur astronomer, I can tell you it is rare NOT to see at least one fireball every few nights out under the stars.

  197. Important Safety Tip by serutan · · Score: 2

    Say you've driven up into the hills to find the meteorite, thinking you could maybe sell it to some them scientist fellers upta college. If it has broken open and is pulsing greenly, DO NOT poke it with a stick.

  198. Itsa Celebration by Tablizer · · Score: 2

    It means a geek finally got a date (with an actual woman)

  199. Re:death to eugenia fat bitch cunt whore loli by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I completely agree. I took the time to read your excellent post, and the reason I say that is because other llamas here are purposely trying to annoy you by telling you it "looked boring". Obviously they read it.

  200. Re:death to eugenia fat bitch cunt whore loli by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can post +2 as well buttfuck dick-honeypot. Karma whores are proud of the +2, and all it means these days is you are a Slashbot, a mediocritomaton, a proud member of this "communisty," a boot licking sheeple subscriber to mob think, a proto-mobocratic prone to being controlled in fascist and communist/socialist regimes.

    So "John", live up to your name and go have someone take a shit on your head, if you opened your mouth and it was full of shit we wouldn't have to listen to the fucking crap you just belched. Asshole.

  201. Re:INVASION DAY - No, INDEPENDENCE DAY by ausoleil · · Score: 1

    You should get a nice Powerbook, so you can upload a virus to the main computer of the mothership.

    But let them blow up the White House first, okay? (I'm just KIDDING, Echelon analysts!!!)

  202. Are we rolling? by CrashVector · · Score: 1

    Actually the self organizing stars probably means that you were watching one of the Grateful Dead movies. I forget which movie it is but one of them begins with a formless Fantasia like light show as the band is making "warm up" sounds. Then the light show morphs into the band itself onstage and Jerry G. says "Are we rolling?" {Then me and six other housemates busted out in laughter and frisbee playing that lasted for the next seven hours...}

    The socks turning into meat probably means you were hungry. Be careful out there though --> only let your {ostensibly sober} trip master operate the fiery grill device; fire hot, fire very hot!!

    --Richard

  203. keep trying, fly-boy! by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 1
    Thanks for the warning. How long have you been a nutbar?

    Since the last ridicule post you threw at me 40 lines down in this story. Did I hit a sore spot, hmmm? (Unless you're a brand new AC. -I swear, you kids are like fruit flies!)


    -Fantastic Lad

  204. except... by altaic · · Score: 1

    The fireballs were reported to have been traveling different directions at the same time of day, so it would stand to reason that they didn't come from the same rock.

    Still, many people are misinterpretting the CU Professor's words. He said simply that the occurance of a fireball is rare when we are not in a meteor storm. We happen to be in the middle of two, the Leonids and the G-something (I forget the name; it's a wierd one). Therefore the probability is much greater that there will be fireballs.

    What I find strange is that they were so proximal nearly 24 hours apart and from different sources without tons of other sitings elsewhere at night. I'd say it was chance, though. After all, there was a siting in the Netherlands.

  205. Re:SEX!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    [18:29:31] <incivism> http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=41859&cid=4414 835
    [18:29:34] <incivism> Moderation Totals: Offtopic=1, Funny=1, Total=2.
    [18:29:37] <incivism> That's funny?
    [18:29:40] <incivism> I didn't think so.
    [18:30:37] <J^raxis> It's funny if you spend your day shoving JonKatz' cock up your nostrils.

  206. Aurora project? by forkboy · · Score: 2

    I thought it was fairly common knowledge that the super secret pet flight project of the government is the "Aurora". They use external combustion, essentially igniting the fuel on the wings of the plane to provide thrust. I'm not an aeronautics engineer, so I have no idea how or why that's any better than current technology, but they've been testing them for years, causing many a "UFO" sighting.

    Considering that there's a couple of Air Force bases around here (Colorado), not to mention being within flight distance to Nevada, Utah, and other desolate places used for testing, it doesn't surprise me that they were seen.

    --
    This message brought to you by the Council of People Who Are Sick of Seeing More People.
    1. Re:Aurora project? by Usquebaugh · · Score: 2

      I thought Aurora was testing ION drive. The light from the wings is not buring fuel but the wings radiate thrust. Or at least that's what some fool told me in a bar.

    2. Re:Aurora project? by forkboy · · Score: 2

      I got my info from an old air force B2 pilot (vietnam/cold war era) who was later involved in design. (he was an engineer after the military) Perhaps only marginally more reliable than "some fool in a bar" considering he is also a notorious bullshit artist. But if he's shitting me, he's been carrying it on for years with not only me but his son as well.

      But anyway, regardless of the actual mechanism, I'm betting these "fireballs" were a military craft.

      --
      This message brought to you by the Council of People Who Are Sick of Seeing More People.
  207. Re:There were a bunch ... better link by pyat · · Score: 1

    This one has a photo


    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2303349.stm

    Found it on diepunyhumans.com

  208. Re:The explanation by HedRat · · Score: 1

    Isn't it obvious? It's Jerry Lee Lewis's career.

    Offtopic??

    Jerry Lee Lewis = Great Balls of Fire!!
    How is that Offtopic?
    Lucy....you got some 'splainin' to do....

  209. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by drinkypoo · · Score: 2
    You are misunderstanding the phrase about never pointing a gun at what you do not intend to shoot. You don't point a gun at someone until the point at which you are ready to put a bullet in them, because there is always a chance of misfire or user error, muscle spasm, et cetera.

    They did not intend to shoot me; They were thinking about it. It is inappropriate to point a gun at something which you do not want to perforate, but they did so to keep me cowed, which was hardly necessary as I was just a kid on his way home.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  210. Saw something similar... by edashofy · · Score: 2

    Out for a walk late last week in Southern California with some friends, a big blue streak shot across the sky...FAST, before disappearing just two seconds later. This one seemed very low and VERY bright; I'd guess maybe 10x brighter than a star. I don't go watching meteor showers or anything, so I don't have anything to gauge it against, but I have seen the Space Shuttle/ISS with the naked eye. This definitely looked much brighter, lower, and faster.

  211. sorry, that was my camping gear by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    I had a bunch of those portable sterno cans and thought it would be funny to throw a couple into the firepit. Boy was I surprised when the explosion vaulted them towards my hanging bag (from a tree branch) catching it on fire and burning through. Needless to say the bag burned and many heavy items fell out at once causing a launching effect that sent the remaining items high into the air. Unfortunately for me the remaining sterno cans were the items.

    Sorry, at least I didn't cause another forest fire from lighting my farts like I did last year in SW New Mexico

  212. I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    even if it is proven the aliens have killed, plan on killing and now have horrible weapons at their disposal we should all fall into partisonship and give thanks to our party's instead of transcending the id to fight for all. In fact, lets invite these aliens for talks and after they once again prove that they care nothing about issues or resolutions but merely want to murder we will act surprised and ask for more talks.

    Poor aliens... it is obviously our fault. We have been enjoying ourselves far too long on this planet and it infuriates the peaceful inhabitants of distant planets. They are the victims here.

  213. More green than blue. by GarryOwen · · Score: 1

    I saw it from the colorado springs area

  214. My personal observations. by GarryOwen · · Score: 1

    I saw both from the colorado springs area, both were more green than blue, fairly big tail, the 1st night it was almost directly west, the next night it was more south west direction from teh Springs. Both seemed to last about a full second from when I noticed them.

  215. Re:It's all so damn 'Merican by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What is wrong with Canada?
    Combines the worst of the French and the British.

    What is right with Canada?
    Consistently the funniest fucking people on the planet. Keep putting out shit like SCTV and the Kids in the Hall.

  216. Re:Grooann... Another &#^@! MSDS to find! by Dannon · · Score: 2

    I would've suggested this company as a manufacturer of Highly Rated Fireballs, but they've switched business models. Will Atomic Fireballs do?

    --
    Good judgment comes from experience.
    Experience comes from bad judgment.
  217. War of The Worlds, anyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one," he said.
    "The changes of anything coming from Mars are a million to one" -- but still, they come!

  218. We need shotguns for this kinda deal. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Did it bug the hell out of anyone else that if you can take out an alien with a baseball bat, where the heck were all the rednecks with shotguns? Pretty obviously, the collector biots are not too well armored, and pretty obviously, there's no controlling class of alien waiting up in orbit with Plan B.

  219. Maybe... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    it's pieces of that "second moon" that was recently discovered and hypothesized to be a chunk of Atlas booster. Perhaps we've just recently wandered into its debris trail.

  220. News Flash by noshelter3 · · Score: 1

    Last night 2 gentlemen smelling of marajuana said they witnessed a shower of great balls of fire in the sky. They also mentioned that the sky was raining hot dogs and the ground was made of cantolopes.

  221. Re:INVASION DAY - No, INDEPENDENCE DAY by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    It's been obvious for some time that Appletalk is actually an alien protocol... :)

  222. I saw a bigfoot once.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It made a sound that I would not like to hear twice in my life..

  223. did anyone notice the date on the pic? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oct. 9, 1992......hmmm
    today = oct.9 2002

    just an observation.

  224. Only slightly OT by Stephen+Samuel · · Score: 2
    What were you smoking and/or drinking? LSD flashback perhaps?

    About two years ago, a friend of mine was on Wreck beach late one night when there was an absolutely spectacular northern lights display that almost covered the sky. As she was watching it, she said aloud "Oh, man, I can just imagine watching this on LSD".

    3 guys (strangers) who were just behind her chimed up in unison.

    "We are...."
    --
    Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
  225. Oh, it's probably just... by MegaFur · · Score: 2

    "a helix of pure energy which spirals and radiates in ways no one understands." -- the fourth Doctor.

    Yep. Gotta love that Mandragora Helix. ;-P

    --
    Furry cows moo and decompress.
  226. they dont like pickles on MIR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...so my guess is dat dey was throwing them off de spaceship... aiii... and by sum accent some of dem pickles gots electricueted by the air on entry and went green like me brother was sayin before...

    aiii...

  227. and aiii know de date it will happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    it will be on de 20th or 21st of July 2003. If you dont believe me wait n see ... aii

    Be good or be good @ it...