Near Staunton, Va - saw a fiery object streak across sky, low on the horizon and break apart...

[peacebird]

it was burning pale yellow, appeared to get larger before it broke apart into 4 pieces. At first I had thought "cool! a shooting star!" and pointed it out to hubby, but as we watched it was apparent it was too low, too slow, and too big.

Called state cops, and the one who returned my call for more details said my report confirmed the report of another officer in Appomattox? I'm hoping he mis-spoke and meant Afton.....

Weird.

[HuffleClaw]

1. space junk?

do keep us updated.

[peacebird]

8. space junk should have been travelling faster, and burning hotter I think?

yellow is the coldest flame..... It was really big by the time it broke up, which makes me think it was coming closer.

I'll let you know what the local news has tomorrow for certain....

[Esra Star]

22. Space junk travels at all kinds of speeds. It sounds as though

it was at some distance from you 3,4,5 hundred miles.
Burning yellow is normal for meteorites and the do break apart often.
Chances are it was a fist sized rock.
I hope you made a wish.

[peacebird]

23. for world peace, as always!

[Uben]

2. Cheney went hunting this afternoon

Probably a downed lawyer!

[mmonk]

3. good one.

Or is it Gonzo working on prosecuters?

[Hissyspit]

4. Bolide.

Piece of meteor that has made it very low into the atmosphere and then burns up or breaks up even more.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. Geez, the Blob returns . . . . grab your fire extinguisher. n/t

[Jack from Charlotte]

24. "The Blob" was Steve McQueen's 1st movie. nfm

*

[ChairmanAgnostic]

6. the earth gets hit with 150,000 small meteors each day,

10,000 larger ones that are visible by the naked eye, and a few that leave streaks in the sky.
that ignores the man-made shyte that we dropped, lost or that the Chinese blew up.


the attack of the meteorites is so constant and predictable, that some scientist proposed using them as reflectors for world wide communications, instead of expensive satellites. Motorola was working on it seriously, until the US DOD said, stop, we need sat com, so build that instead for us.

[peacebird]

9. it was pretty big - we estimate it to be about the size of a kitchen stove....

I thought the fact it split up meant it wasn't a meteorite but space junk is a definite possibility

[karlrschneider]

12. A kitchen stove...gas, or electric?

:-)

[CrazyOrangeCat]

17. !

:spank:

:rofl:

[blm]

13. that's pretty big......and would be hard to miss. Are other reports coming in

on your local news station?

[peacebird]

16. a state cop reported the seeing same thing.

I imagine I'll hear something on the news later tonight or tomorrow

[blm]

36. make sure to come back here and fill us in.

I'll check with the newsroom and see if anything is on the wire.

[hunter]

34. Oh No! Someone has a giant catapult and they are launching kitchen appliances!

Homeland Security Red Alert!

Watch the skys for falling stoves!

:yoiks:

[peacebird]

37. LOL!!!! not a stove, just that size.......

[Missy M]

7. Wow, hope it wasn't an airplane of any kind....

please keep us updated.

[AndyTiedye]

20. Saw a Satellite Reentering the Atmosphere and Burning Up Once

It looked like a really slow, really colorful shooting star.

[Faygo Kid]

10. Certainly lots of sightings recently. I am skeptical, but not dismissive. Saw them myself.

When I was 12 or 13, we came home after seeing "The Shaggy Dog" (the original) at the drive-in (I am old). Lingered outside at our cottage after everyone went in because it was such a beautiful clear night. Saw three lights streak overhead; actually followed the curvature of the Earth. Never saw anything like it since. Lots of strange sightings lately, notably O'Hare Airport. No speculative comment, but interesting.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

19. did you see that France was going to release UFO records of 40 years,

ALL info on over 6,000 unexplained events, some with weird evidence?

It is coming out next month, no deletions, no editing, no nonsense.

[Zueda]

11. No way!

I live here in Salem, VA and I think I saw it to. I noticed a really bright light on the horizon towards the SW. It wasn't quite dark enough outside to see many stars. I thought well maybe it's a planet but noticed that it was flickering. I watched for a couple minutes and noticed it getting slightly larger... thought maybe a plane but it was flickering too much. I just dismissed it as some really bright star. But went back outside and it was gone.

[Straight Shooter]

15. Welcome to DU, Zueda.

:hi:

Maybe it's a good omen for Senator Webb's response to Little Boot's SOTU speech :)

[Zueda]

27. Thanks!

I usually just lurk but had to repond to this thread...

I'm sure Webb will not disappoint. :popcorn:

[RufusTFirefly]

14. Ack! Ack! Ack!

[Buzz Clik]

18. It was a weather phenomenon...

Happens every time swamp gas interacts with the collision of an upper atmosphere depression and a high pressure trough.

[Zueda]

31. But...

Swamp gas in West and western Virginia? :shrug:

[Ioo]

21. On my Local site (Harpers Ferry WV Area) someone reported seeing it..

So that is odd

[poiuytsister]

28. Aliens wanting to hike the Appalachian Trail no doubt

Maybe George Noory will have it on Coast to Coast

[sillyphoenix]

32. I'll bet they'd love it!

The Olympus Mons Trail on Mars isn't all it's cracked up to be, or so I hear.

[tabasco]

25. Greetings. Take me to your leader!

THAT'S YOUR LEADER !!??

[LostinVA]

26. Let me know what's up -- I closesh to you!

[Kindigger]

29. Happened to me in December

I'm on the 6th floor of an apartment building. I was lying on the couch, and looked toward the window to see this very bright thing with a tail sail past my window. I actually thought I would get up, and see a plane or something burning on the ground several blocks away (that's how large and bright it was).

I went to space.com and in Leonid speak it is called a "streaker". :)

[11 Bravo]

30. Did it say "macaca", because it sounds like Felix Allen's political career.

[Cabcere]

33. Shout-out

:hi: Hey, I'm from Staunton, too! (Although right now I'm away at college in Williamsburg, so I didn't see the object about which you speak.) Hope everything's OK - keep us posted, please? :)

[SteveG]

35. Bush's SOTU speech? (nt)

nt