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Meteor Streaks Over American East Coast

California doesn't get all the action; The Washington Post is one of many news outlets reporting that the east coast of North America got a good view of a meteor, with more than 300 sightings from Canada to Florida. Did you see it? If so, did you have your dashcam on? Update: 03/23 13:43 GMT by T : The meteor was captured at least by some security cameras, as reported by The Guardian.

111 comments

  1. me thinks by cultiv8 · · Score: 3, Funny

    russia got more action than california. just sayin'.

    --
    sysadmins and parents of newborns get the same amount of sleep.
    1. Re:me thinks by owenferguson · · Score: 1

      "California Girls." vs. "Back in the U.S.S.R."

    2. Re:me thinks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      russia got more action than california. just sayin'.

      100%. It's a little sad to see American news outlets grasping at straws here.

    3. Re:me thinks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why troll?? They got more action, and it's a fact.

  2. Too far by physlord · · Score: 1

    Come on, this America vs Russia thing is getting too far. Whats next? Brag about what meteor was bigger, or brighter?

    1. Re:Too far by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In soviet Russia, earth strikes meteor!

    2. Re:Too far by gmuslera · · Score: 4, Funny

      If a meteor strikes a big city, then USA could start the War on Space. Will still be madness, but at least this time won't be thousands of civil casualties because of it.

    3. Re:Too far by Endovior · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That'd actually be a good thing, really. I mean, it's short-term terrible about civilian casualties and the destruction of a city and all, but long-term, the investments in space technology and meteor detection would be vastly more positive for everyone in general than any of these other wars have been.

    4. Re:Too far by The+Master+Control+P · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The Titanic had to sink before the fools listened to people saying "ships should have enough lifeboats for everyone, and the radio should always be on."
      Hundreds of people had to burn to death in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire before the fools listened to progressives saying "locking the doors is bullshit."

      So yes, I fully expect that we're going to have to see a large city or small nation vaporized before the threat is taken seriously.

    5. Re:Too far by richard.york · · Score: 1

      In Soviet Russia, meteor strikes YOU! FTFY

    6. Re:Too far by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It is difficult to hit a small nation from the sky. The first casualties of a meteor strike will be from China, Russia, USA or India.

    7. Re:Too far by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Come on, this America vs Russia thing is getting too far. Whats next? Brag about what meteor was bigger, or brighter?

      It's more about what qualifies as national news (or international as the case may be). WaPo perpetuates an America vs. Russia thing when they report on a bright shooting star like this as if it were as significant as the meteor in Russia last month.

    8. Re:Too far by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes, and how many people need to die from lightning before we build an iron dome to protect us from the weather?

      Meteor impacts are very low probability events. Just because after thousands of years of human history we now are approaching the technology level to deal with meteors doesn't mean that the risk of meteors has changed. And if you are worried about extinction events, 99.999% of your attention should be focused on the ones that humans would cause (nuclear war, bioweapons release, etc.).

    9. Re:Too far by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Your post would've been modded '+5 Informative' if you had signed in. And many people aren't aware that mod points can be freely exchanged for bitcoins. (True fiction!)

    10. Re:Too far by gmuslera · · Score: 1

      Is difficult to hit a specific small nation. And more important, is very difficult to hit a city, even or specially a big one,, with rich enough people live in it, to make governments worry about it. Odds are high that will strike ocean (and probably several did in the last decades, if weren't bigger than recent Russia ones) or deserted land.

      But the problem are big ones. With them don't matter the exact point where it hits. And if you didn't invested to detect early or advance enough tech to be able to do something, will be nothing that you can do to avoid it.

    11. Re:Too far by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The larger the asteroid, the easier it is to detect (NASA has identified 95% of those with a diameter larger than 1 km). And the larger the asteroid, the lower the probability of impact. Thus, large asteroids are probably not something we need to worry about. For smaller asteroids, they will be harder to detect and more frequent. But they will also be less damaging.

      I'd say that our current priorities are just fine. Civilization ending asteroids are being cataloged and we aren't wasting money on trivial probabilities with smaller asteroids.

    12. Re:Too far by doug141 · · Score: 2

      Some low-probability events that did cause big changes in public policy: dying in a terrorist attack, having a kid get shot at school, dying in a plane crash.

    13. Re:Too far by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps world's peoples needs something like this to unite as one...

      Come meteorites, come!

    14. Re:Too far by houghi · · Score: 1

      Thousands of people had to die in a terrorist attack before we took airport security serious.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    15. Re:Too far by gmuslera · · Score: 1

      Shit and black swans happens. And probably would had been mapped every grain of sand in the solar system with the money "invested" in wars which real justification is just profit of a few..

    16. Re:Too far by magarity · · Score: 1

      Thousands of people had to die in a terrorist attack before we took airport security too serious.

      FTFY

    17. Re:Too far by uninformedLuddite · · Score: 1

      Someone is going to post your picture to twitter soon

      --
      The new right fascists are bilingual. They speak English and Bullshit.
  3. A Nun Told Me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    If anything bad happens, [they] deserve it !

  4. FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT !! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Reporter):
    Hello, everybody, this is your action news reporter with all the news that is news across the nation, on the scene at the supermarket. There seems to have been some disturbance here. Pardon me, sir, did you see what happened?

      (Witness):
    Yeah, I did. I's standin' overe there by the tomaters, and here he come, running through the pole beans, through the fruits and vegetables, nekkid as a jay bird. And I hollered over t' Ethel, I said, "Don't look, Ethel!" But it's too late, she'd already been incensed.

      (Chorus)
    Here he comes, look at that, look at that
    There he goes, look at that, look at that
    And he ain't wearin' no clothes

    Oh, yes, they call him the Streak
    Look at that, look at that
    Fastest thing on two feet
    Look at that, look at that
    He's just as proud as he can be
    Of his anatomy
    He goin' give us a peek

    Oh, yes, they call him the Streak
    Look at that, look at that
    He likes to show off his physique
    Look at that, look at that
    If there's an audience to be found
    He'll be streakin' around
    Invitin' public critique

    (Reporter):
    This is your action news reporter once again, and we're here at the gas station. Pardon me, sir, did you see what happened?

    (Witness):
    Yeah, I did. I's just in here gettin my car checked, he just appeared out of the traffic. Come streakin' around the grease rack there, didn't have nothin' on but a smile. I looked in there, and Ethel was gettin' her a cold drink. I hollered, "Don't look, Ethel!" But it was too late. She'd already been mooned. Flashed her right there in front ofthe shock absorbers.

    (Chorus)
    He ain't crude, look at that, look at that
    He ain't lewd, look at that, look at that
    He's just in the mood to run in the nude

    Oh, yes, they call him the Streak
    Look at that, look at that
    He likes to turn the other cheek
    Look at that, look at that
    He's always makin' the news
    Wearin' just his tennis shoes
    Guess you could call him unique

    (Reporter):
    Once again, your action news reporter in the booth at the gym, covering the disturbance at the basketball playoff. Pardon me, sir, did you see what happened?

    (Witness):
    Yeah, I did. Half time, I's just goin' down thar to get Ethel a snow cone. And here he come, right out of the cheap seats, dribbling, right down the middle of the court. Didn't have on nothing but his PF's. Made a hook shot and got out through the concessions stand. I hollered up at Ethel, I said, "Don't look, Ethel!" But it was too late. She'd already got a free shot. Grandstandin', right there in front of the home team.

    (Chorus) (Witness):
    Oh, yes, they call him the Streak Here he comes again.
    Look at that, look at that Who's that with him?
    The fastest thing on two feet Ethel? Is that you, Ethel?
    Look at that, look at that What do you think you're
    He's just as proud as he can be doin'? You git your
    Of his anatomy clothes on!
    He's gonna give us a peek

    Oh, yes, they call him the Streak Ethel! Where you goin'?
    Look at that, look at that Ethel, you shameless
    He likes to show off his physique hussy! Say it isn't so,
    Look at that, look at that Ethel! Ethelllllll!!!
    If there's an audience to be found
    He'll be streakin' around
    Invitin' public critique

    1. Re:FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT !! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Meteor streaking, not human streaking!

      Though despite it being downmodded as off-topic, I do appreciate your post. I finally learned some of the words to that old Ray Stevens novelty song. 9volt AM radios from the sixties didn't have the clearest sounding speaker. :-)

    2. Re:FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT !! by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      Showing my age, but I actually remember when that was a hit on the radio.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    3. Re:FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT !! by SternisheFan · · Score: 1

      Showing my age, but I actually remember when that was a hit on the radio.

      "The Streak" came out in 1974, I thought it was even earlier than that.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Streak

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtzoUu7w-YM

  5. i understand that meteors are neat and all.. by wierd_w · · Score: 3, Insightful

    But really now.. I have seen many fall this year driving home from work. One even lasted 5 seconds before burning out, and was brilliant white. (Saw it sometime in February.)

    Do people on the coasts just have so much light pollution that anything other than a jumbojet or helicopter with running lights on causes excitement? Seriously, meteors happen all the time. The one that fell over russia was especially large, and had a lot of energy. That's why it was news. This one over the east coast just sounds like your garden variety to me.

    What's all the buzz about?

    1. Re:i understand that meteors are neat and all.. by Sperbels · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because most people never see one like that and don't realize it's fairly common. After the Russian incident, any bolide means THE SKY IS FALLING!! and they click on it. The buzz will die eventually.

    2. Re:i understand that meteors are neat and all.. by AvitarX · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It was pretty amazing. I saw it in China town of Philadelphia. It was bright. Like a firework.

      actually I thought it was a firework until seeing this post, but the timing matches, and it was moving like a meteor.

      I've gone to very rural areas for meteor showers, and never seen anything like this, and it was in a fairly major city, and randomly.

      it was thicker, and sparklier than any I've seen, even with the light pollution.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    3. Re:i understand that meteors are neat and all.. by wierd_w · · Score: 1

      Hmm.. sounds similar to the 5 sec one I saw in Feb then. It looked a lot like a white phosphorus shell, and was equally bright. Lit up the whole area, which is what caught my attention while driving home that night.

      Prior to that, the brightest I had seen this year was a lovely green one that lasted about 1 sec.

      Don't get me wrong, I don't to be bag on anyone, and 8sec is a very long lived object, but it still isn't anything to be seriously concerned about. Just smile because you got to see something cool, and move on.

      *shrug*

    4. Re:i understand that meteors are neat and all.. by The+Master+Control+P · · Score: 5, Funny

      it was thicker, and sparklier than any I've seen,

      ... Is this about a meteor or the porn version of Twilight?

    5. Re:i understand that meteors are neat and all.. by sjames · · Score: 2

      Sadly, light pollution is a huge problem on the east coast and it's spreading. It has been a long time since the pink glow appeared in the sky where I live and it keeps getting worse. There are places where kids don't know you're supposed to see stars when you look up at night. It takes a fairly bright light to make an impression in a lot of places.

    6. Re:i understand that meteors are neat and all.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know, I am sitting in a urban-ish area, on skype with friends at like 1 in the morning, suddenly I see a shooting star that lasted for like 2-ish seconds and was brighter than a plane. (west of scotland)

      And on that note, it is snowing again. I love Springter. Truly the best season.

    7. Re:i understand that meteors are neat and all.. by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      Yes, that was absolutely what I did.

      I was just trying to differentiate it from he ones that one sees regularly in more rural areas.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    8. Re:i understand that meteors are neat and all.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Light pollution is really bad in cities. Driving just 10 miles outside of the city I live in looks like a whole different sky at night. Most of those meteor showers we hear about, well around here your lucky to see just one or two streaks in the sky during the apex of the shower.

    9. Re:i understand that meteors are neat and all.. by Cognizant · · Score: 1

      My wife and i both saw this one from the back yard here in Bradenton, Fl. While i see quite a few of them myself this one was pretty bright. Short only lasting a few seconds. What makes it stand out to me was even through tree branches it was a pretty bright flash of light. Much brighter than normal compared to the dozen or so I've seen in the last few months. and there is a lot of light pollution here.

    10. Re:i understand that meteors are neat and all.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's all the buzz about?

      There are no distracting wars and the economy sucks.

  6. Did it make a sound? by istartedi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Unless it made a sound, it's no big deal. I've been lucky enough to witness one meteor that made a sound. It was during a Perseid shower 20 years ago. A particularly bright one lit us up enough to cast a shadow. I turned just in time to see the tail end of it, then I heard a sound. It was as if the show put on a finale for us. After that, they were all just tiny streaks and then the shower was over for us.

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    1. Re:Did it make a sound? by kangsterizer · · Score: 1

      i had of the kind, at night, where it actually lights the place around up quite a bit. we all looked at ourselves and all thought "ok, so, that's whats the end of the world is like". then it fell in the ocean somewhere, sufficiently far enough away. Biggest i've ever seen.. and hopefully i'll ever see. we were all grown ups, yet all scared :P

    2. Re:Did it make a sound? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Where was the ka-boom? There's supposed to be an earth shattering ka-boom!!!

    3. Re:Did it make a sound? by rusty0101 · · Score: 1

      Hey Doc, can you point me to the local u-drive-em spaceship rentals?

      --
      You never know...
    4. Re:Did it make a sound? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Unless it made a sound, it's no big deal. I've been lucky enough to witness one meteor that made a sound. It was during a Perseid shower 20 years ago. A particularly bright one lit us up enough to cast a shadow. I turned just in time to see the tail end of it, then I heard a sound. It was as if the show put on a finale for us. After that, they were all just tiny streaks and then the shower was over for us.

      In Utah we had a meteor that lit up the night sky so that it appeared to be daylight for a brief moment along with a loud explosion. It was a local news story.

    5. Re:Did it make a sound? by ShaunC · · Score: 1

      It was more like a KAPOOYA.

      --
      Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
    6. Re:Did it make a sound? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    7. Re:Did it make a sound? by steelfood · · Score: 1

      I saw a Leonid meteor shower around 10 years ago, and that ended with quite the bang too. It peaked, a large one appeared with sound and all, and then it quieted down almost immediately, much like your typical fireworks show.

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
    8. Re:Did it make a sound? by Neil+Boekend · · Score: 1

      No earth shattering KABOOM's please. I need this earth to hold my oxygen at pressure. If it's shattered I'd need to find an other way (quickly).

      --
      Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.
  7. wish i'd seen it by wbr1 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing a fireball meteor in the earlghty 90's. I was 13 or so and night fishing. Saw light on the trees across the lake. Thought it was headlights at first, then realized it wasnt. It streaked overhead, then it was gonee behind the trees. Then there was a flash. After came the sound. Scared me a bit at first. Gave me my love of astronmy though.

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
    1. Re:wish i'd seen it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Grammar trolls are among the lowest form of trolls.

    2. Re:wish i'd seen it by wbr1 · · Score: 1

      I was typing on a phone. I even saw my errors, but the jscript on /. makes my browser act funny when trying to select text or move the cursor. It gets fairly unresponsive and touches don't go where you would expect in the textarea box. So I decided not to fix them as it was readable enough. In real life my profundity, vocabulary, and prolixity would leave your jaw agape and your knickers twisted.

      --
      Silence is a state of mime.
    3. Re:wish i'd seen it by Will.Woodhull · · Score: 1

      Grammar trolls have other trolls to bother and to bite them...

      Besides, it is not "grammar trolls". It is "grammar nazis". A grammar troll would be someone whose intensive purposes were to cause a Gentle Reader to transform into a Grammar Nazi and reply thusly.

      ....?

      Oh Noes! I have been grammar trolled!

      --
      Will
    4. Re:wish i'd seen it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Grammar does not like being referred to as a troll or a nazi, and she'd like you all to, "Just play nice, boys."

  8. Conspiracy by pitchpipe · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's a well orchestrated conspiracy by astrophysicists to vastly increase their government funding. These fat-cat scientists must be stopped now!

    --
    Look where all this talking got us, baby.
    1. Re:Conspiracy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Careful there... Rand Paul will start a fillabuster about Obama dropping meteors on US Citizens without probable cause.

    2. Re:Conspiracy by The+Master+Control+P · · Score: 3, Funny

      If they can control meteors and fly them into earth at will, we should give them the money. I mean really, let's be realistic here.

    3. Re:Conspiracy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If they can control meteors and fly them into earth at will, we should give them the money. I mean really, let's be realistic here.

      Will it end the horror? Well, okay then.

    4. Re:Conspiracy by Jherek+Carnelian · · Score: 4, Funny

      If they can control meteors and fly them into earth at will, we should give them the money. I mean really, let's be realistic here.

      We do not negotiate with meteorologists!

    5. Re:Conspiracy by rusty0101 · · Score: 2

      Astrologers on the other hand...

      --
      You never know...
    6. Re:Conspiracy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, it worked for climatologist.

    7. Re:Conspiracy by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      politicians and the news media are fanning the fires of fears of a massive strike, the astrophysicists have already won.

  9. Three notable meteors close together by Grayhand · · Score: 1, Interesting

    We're talking three significant meteors within a few weeks at the same general latitude. Everyone will say they are unrelated but it seems possible. End of the world? Give me a break. I think it's more likely a minor cluster that haven't been identified. More of a curiosity than a threat. Without knowing the path it's impossible to know if they'd cross our path in our lifetimes again. If they are part of a loose association of asteroids odds are this is the tail end of it. I'd be curious if there were more air strikes than usual during this period? Like I say more of a curiosity than anything. The point is there are probably hundreds if not thousands of these mini clusters if that's what this is that remain unidentified. We may cross several every hundred years or so with no idea that's what's happening. Just wish I'd seen one of them!

    1. Re:Three notable meteors close together by black3d · · Score: 2

      Not even a cluster - a meteor this size occurs several times a day naturally. The Russian one was more notable as it only occurs a few times a year. That being spotted was, in itself, fairly rare as most of the planet is unpopulated.

      If this had occurred during daylight (when, approximately half do) it wouldn't have been spotted. As bright as the moon is not, generally, bright enough to see in sunlight, unless you happen to be looking at the right spot (that's not to say you can't see it during the day sometimes, but when the moon is in full light, that means the sun is at a fairly low angle - it's not that 'bright' yet). For it to happen at night, in a populated area, makes it uncommon, but as these occur several times a day, not that amazing. The fact that it occurred over the East Coast of America simply means ZOMG MEDIA FRENZY.

      I've been lucky enough to see 6 or 7 large fireballs in my lifetime, most recently including this one over Sydney (not my video - at least I believe that's the one I saw, it was around that time of the year, had some minimal media coverage) and this one over New Zealand which (again, presuming thats the same one I'm thinking of) exploded into several pieces and was accompanied by a great series of sonic booms. I'll usually see at least one regular meteor (ie, shooting star) a night just gazing at the sky. (Smoking ciggies leads to a lot of time spent outside in evenings.)

      Don't worry - not a cluster. An everyday occurrence for planet earth. Just not an everyday occurrence for each of us. :)

      --
      "The true measure of a person is how they act when they know they won't get caught." - DSRilk
  10. Isn't it time... by DaHat · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...for common sense meteor control?

    We cannot stand by and let these senseless meteors fall upon our great world... no! We must pass laws to require all meteor's that wish to pass within a parsec of us undergo a background check.

    More so, we must declare the surface of the earth a "meteor free zone" and let it be known far and wide... that we do not allow meteor violence here!

    1. Re:Isn't it time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes - think about the children!

    2. Re:Isn't it time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The next Mars rover should install a "Meteor Crossing" sign. That should be a safe distance away, and a large strike would make mining costs cheaper.

    3. Re:Isn't it time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The TSA has said they will allow meteors to carry knives of 2.73" or less into the atmosphere

    4. Re:Isn't it time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Onion reported that the TSA is now allowing "small terrorists" onto planes. :)

    5. Re:Isn't it time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm OK. I live in a 'Stand You Ground' state

  11. Ghost Protocol by walkerreuben · · Score: 1

    Clearly what happened is the Americans fired an atomic missile at the Russians, but they managed to stop it, and then the Russians tried the same trick on the Americans, but they managed to stop it as well. Either that, or it turns out that these fancy atomic things don't work as well as they used to. Or for those who want a conspiracy theory, they're actually releasing mind altering chemicals. Or the alien version would be that they're probes for the coming mothership. For the 2012 fan, sorry, they messed up the maths. They meant 21st of December, 2013.

  12. Not very spectacular by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Saw a much more spectacular and sky lighting up meteor in southern wisconsin 3 years ago which would comparably put this one to shame, But I suppose after the russian one, one becomes fearful of such events.

  13. no, no I did not by Osgeld · · Score: 1

    its heavily overcast here and I am hundreds of miles from the east coast ya douche

  14. They are UFOs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As simple as that.

  15. Boom by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When I was around 4 or 5 and leaving out in the fields, I heard what I later learnt was a rather large Meteor that landed in a cornfield. It sounded like multiple sonic booms, or a really really load Motorcycle hog failing to start.

  16. No explosion? by roman_mir · · Score: 2

    No huge explosion?
    No shattered windows?
    No collateral damage?
    No pieces on eBay yet?
    Lame.

  17. Professor Frink says... by SternisheFan · · Score: 2
    PROFESSOR FRINK: "That comet is headed straight for us, with the fire and the impact and the 100% chance of pain... pain in the glaving!"

    KENT BROCKMAN: "Professor, without knowing precisely what the danger is, would you say it's time for our viewers to crack each other's heads open and feast on the goo inside?"

    PROFESSOR FRINK: "Yes I would, Kent."

  18. UFO? Aliens? Conspriacy Theory? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hope not :-(

  19. USATODAY story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    by Melissa Eversly, 2:20 am EDT March 23, 2013

    A possible meteor has been spotted streaking through the sky over the East Coast, The American Meteor Society and Twitter users are reporting.

    "It basically looked like a super bright shooting star," said Robert Lunsford, fireball coordinator for the society, based on the reports coming in to the organization's website. "I saw some people mentioning fragments and naturally every color of the rainbow."

    The society, based in Geneseo, N.Y., was researching about 400 reports received as of about 10 p.m. ET Friday from nine East Coast States and Canada of sightings that took place somewhere shortly before 8 p.m. ET through shortly after 8 p.m. ET, Lunsford said. The number of reports marked a possible record over the number of reports the group received about a fireball that streaked over Baltimore on Halloween several years ago, Lunsford said.

    Late Friday, Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environmental Office said the flash appears to be "a single meteor event." He said it "looks to be a fireball that moved roughly toward the southeast, going on visual reports."

    "Judging from the brightness, we're dealing with something as bright as the full moon," Cooke said. "The thing is probably a yard across. We basically have (had) a boulder enter the atmosphere over the northeast."

    Twitter exploded Friday evening with reports of meteor sightings from the South to New England.

    Some Twitter users also reported that the meteor crashed somewhere near the Delaware-Maryland border, but the society had no information on that, Lunsford said.

    AccuWeather.com (@breakingweather) tweeted that there have been several unconfirmed reports of a large meteor being spotted from Florida to Massachusetts between 7:55 p.m. and 8:03 p.m. ET.

    Reports of a fireball that streaked over the Albany, N.Y., area shortly before 8 p.m. headed south or southeast was reported by Examiner.com.

    The fireball was green and had a "fairly long tail," the Examiner reported, adding that it lasted for a few seconds.

    Lunsford of the American Meteor Society said it is more common for meteors to cross the sky in the evening this time of year because a certain area of the sky known as a radiant is at its highest point above the horizon during February, March and April.

    "We have reports going back to 2005, and the months of February, March and April have a lot of evening fireballs," he said.

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/22/meteor-east-coast/2011893/

  20. Dashcams? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who the f*** in America has dashcams? Yeah, I know in Russia pretty much anyone who can afford to own a car has a dashcam more or less for accident and insurance purposes, but here it is pretty much unheard of. (And yes, I'm sure there are exceptions, but at least in my experience no one I know has dash cams yet). I'm sure that will change in the future as devices become more ubiquitous.

    1. Re:Dashcams? by Skapare · · Score: 1

      I was planning to buy one soon, but it was a GoPro one and now I'm boycotting GoPro.

      --
      now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
  21. Zhirinovksky's Counter Attack! by LazLong · · Score: 1

    Aha! Russia has retaliated for our meteor strike over Chelyabinsk!! ;-)

    In case you don't get the reference:

    http://rt.com/politics/zhirinovsky-meteorite-american-weapon-316/

  22. Where that meteor land ? by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 1

    Anyone knows ??

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
    1. Re:Where that meteor land ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As soon as it lands it's no longer a meteor but a meteorite. Just saying.

    2. Re:Where that meteor land ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This didn't hit the ground. Just saying.
      The one in Russia airburst, it didn't hit the ground either. Just saying.
      Yes fragments hit, but when we're comparing the object that came in from space, neither was a meteorite. Just saying.
      Just saying you might want to know what you're talking about before just saying.
      Just saying.

  23. Meteorite composition? by aussie.virologist · · Score: 1

    I noticed a lot of the comments saying that the tail was blue/green with a white/ yellow explosion. Is there anyone in the know who can comment if this gives an indication of the meteorites' composition. Green maybe indicating copper content, yellow maybe Sulfur? If so can you use the colour of tail upon entry to identify meteorites that have the same colour as being of the same origin? Just thinkin'

    1. Re:Meteorite composition? by SternisheFan · · Score: 2

      I noticed a lot of the comments saying that the tail was blue/green with a white/ yellow explosion. Is there anyone in the know who can comment if this gives an indication of the meteorites' composition. Green maybe indicating copper content, yellow maybe Sulfur? If so can you use the colour of tail upon entry to identify meteorites that have the same colour as being of the same origin? Just thinkin'

      Wikipedia: Most meteors glow for about a second. A relatively small percentage of meteoroids hit the Earth's atmosphere and then pass out again: these are termed Earth-grazing fireballs (for example The Great Daylight 1972 Fireball). The visible light produced by a meteor may take on various hues, depending on the chemical composition of the meteoroid, and the speed of its movement through the atmosphere. As layers of the meteoroid abrade and ionize, the color of the light emitted may change according to the layering of minerals. Possible colors (and elements producing them) include:

      Orange/yellow (sodium)

      Yellow (iron)

      Blue/green (copper)

      Purple (potassium)

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid

    2. Re:Meteorite composition? by aussie.virologist · · Score: 1

      Cool, thanks SternisheFan, good ol' wiki :) I wonder if it would be possible to record the spectra of light being emitted and then match other meteors with the same spectral pattern. If the fragments that have been hitting lately all have the same colour pattern it may imply that they came from a single source. It's probably already being done, I'm a virologist not an astronomer so I don't know about these things. Surely we have enough high quality "scopes" recording what is going on in the upper atmosphere to compare data. Cheers.

    3. Re:Meteorite composition? by ae1294 · · Score: 0

      Cool, thanks SternisheFan, good ol' wiki :) I wonder if it would be possible to record the spectra of light being emitted and then match other meteors with the same spectral pattern. If the fragments that have been hitting lately all have the same colour pattern it may imply that they came from a single source.

      Stop trying to deceive us with your science! We all know that god is angry, probably about gay marriage or Obama-care... We'll all just have to wait for the Oracle at FOX News to reveal the truth behind gods rage. God loves us and he'll fucking kill us all if we don't stop letting people do whatever makes them happy...

    4. Re:Meteorite composition? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oops, left one out...

      Orange/yellow (sodium)

      Yellow (iron)

      Blue/green (copper)

      Purple (potassium)

      Red (silicate)

  24. I saw it! by PeeAitchPee · · Score: 2

    I was out walking my dog (about 25 minutes northeast of downtown Baltimore, MD) and happened to be facing the right way (north). I saw a large, very bright light green meteor with a yellow tail streak across the sky, moving east. It lasted about four or 5 seconds and didn't make a sound. It was beautiful . . . I've never seen anything like it!

    1. Re:I saw it! by x_t0ken_407 · · Score: 1

      You lucky bastige!

    2. Re:I saw it! by ae1294 · · Score: 1

      I was out walking my dog (about 25 minutes northeast of downtown Baltimore, MD) and happened to be facing the right way (north). I saw a large, very bright light green meteor with a yellow tail streak across the sky, moving east. It lasted about four or 5 seconds and didn't make a sound. It was beautiful . . . I've never seen anything like it!

      There is no earthly way you could have known which way to be facing to see this which means you must be a WITCH! BURN THE WITCH!!!

    3. Re:I saw it! by lazy+genes · · Score: 0

      I have seen green ones before. It was probably just a piece of debris from a satellite.

  25. Dont worry. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Its just holograms. They will increase the rate of these over time, and eventually the fake hologram aliens will arrive too.

    1. Re:Dont worry. by flayzernax · · Score: 1

      Nope just the para-military playing with UFO tech or shooting down aliens trying to scrap them XCOM style.

  26. Anyone have an actual video file ... by Skapare · · Score: 1

    ... that can be downloaded of this thing? Formats like dirac, mp2, mp4, ogg theora, vp8, are fine. I need to play it in mplayer.

    --
    now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
  27. Guardian – or Telegraph? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Quite different papers

  28. horrible analogy by circletimessquare · · Score: 0

    the worst lightning strike will not cause the extinction of mankind, but there are asteroids out there that could do this

    if you ignore lightning, people die every year from it in a statistically dependable way. so you can ignore lightning and personal tragedies may come and go, but there are no society level tragedies. ever

    meanwhile, if you ignore asteroids, you could go 100,000 more years and never have a problem more serious than the tunguska event

    or... the entire species could cease to exist in a few years

    no one knows

    the regular rate of devastating asteroid strikes is far far far lower than a lightning strike

    but the potential scale of destruction of an asteroid strike is far far far higher than a lightning strike

    people do this all the time: construct horrible, failed analogies to explain phenomenon in their world, then use the horrible analogies as a rhetorical or cognitive stand in for the phenonmenon, thereby misrepresenting twisting and otherwise lying about the meaning of the phenomenon

    there has to be a term for this sort of horrible analogy failure in the realm of logic and rhetoric. it seems like a regularly recurring motif

    for political causes, this sort of analogy failure is probably done on purpose by the malicious, and then taken as truth by the foolish

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:horrible analogy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here is the question I want you to answer: if you were to build an asteroid detection program to detect extinction sized asteroids, what fraction of those asteroids would you try to detect? You can never detect them all, you can only have a confidence level. Would you detect 95% (already done). 99%? 99.99999% And if you don't spend every dollar on Earth to detect asteroids, tell me why you didn't and how you justified living with a threat that could destroy the entire species.

  29. OT: seasonal differences by Will.Woodhull · · Score: 1

    You have Springter in Scotland?

    Oh that sounds so nice. All we got here in Oregon is Second Winter.

    --
    Will
    1. Re:OT: seasonal differences by SternisheFan · · Score: 2

      You have Springter in Scotland?

      Oh that sounds so nice. All we got here in Oregon is Second Winter.

      I googled 'springter' and it's in the urban dictionary...

      1. Springter

      (noun) 1. when winter just won't let go and spring should be here but you're experiencing multiple blizzards and making more snowmen in one week than you did all winter 2. when you see green grass peeking through the snowpiles 3. when your windows are open to let in a fresh spring breeze but you are still wearing mittens and scraping your windshield.

      On March 31st we had another blizzard, Springter is finally here!

      http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Springter

    2. Re:OT: seasonal differences by GoogleShill · · Score: 1

      I believe that is the first urban dictionary link I've ever seen that didn't need to be prefaced with "NSFW"!

  30. Too Bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Air Force One and Obama were in Jordan; Obama needed to check on the illegal rendition and torture "pretties" that his government so disparately needs to maintain the "Balance Of Terror."

  31. Too soon? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can I vote that it not touch down in my back yard?

    But if it's gonna land in the US, can you put it somewhere as close to Alabama or Arkansas as possible?

  32. Streaks? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does it have a big dongle?

  33. "as reported by The Guardian." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone who knows how politically opposed the Telegraph is to the Guardian's point of view will find this funny, but seriously, you don't have to know anything about foreign newspapers to not make a mistake like this, you just have to be able to fucking READ. The clue is in the big title in huge letters at the top of the page.

    1. Re:"as reported by The Guardian." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Anyone who knows how politically opposed the Telegraph is to the Guardian's point of view will find this funny, but seriously, you don't have to know anything about foreign newspapers to not make a mistake like this, you just have to be able to fucking READ. The clue is in the big title in huge letters at the top of the page.

      Mm-hmm. The "big title", you say. In "huge letters"? "Top of page"? "Read", "Clue"... Hmmm....

      Ow Oh OWIE! Brain.... hurt! Must never try "think thing" again!

  34. Training by phorm · · Score: 1

    They're already got a training application for that...