Wed, Feb 18, 2009
Object Was On Wrong Trajectory To Have Been Manmade, Scientist
Says
If you live in North Texas, you can probably take off those hard
hats now. Officials are fairly certain the fireball that streaked
over Austin and Dallas -- and even up over Oklahoma, Kansas and
southern Nebraska -- was probably a rare meteor event, and not
debris from last week's satellite collision over Siberia.
FAA spokesman Roland Herwig told the Associated Press this week
the Sunday morning phenomenon was most likely a natural event, and
not any debris from a manmade object. That contradicted
Herwig's initial comments Sunday -- albeit
only speculation at that point -- the fireball may have been debris
from a falling satellite.
The observatory manager at University of North Texas in Denton,
Preston Starr, agreed... saying the object seen by hundreds of
witnesses was probably a solid chunk of space flotsam, about the
size of a pickup truck. The object's trajectory was wrong for it to
have been satellite debris, he added... and most debris wouldn't
have thrown off such a fiery trail, either.
"It would have looked like a blip, and nobody would be able to
notice if it were a daytime entry," Starr said.
Still, the event caused so many emergency calls, the local
sheriff's office in Williamson County dispatched a helicopter to
look for a possible plane crash.
The FAA also issued a NOTAM Sunday morning, warning pilots to be
advised of additional debris. That warning was quickly retracted
Sunday afternoon.
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