In video, meteor in Wisconsin streaks across the sky

A meteor in Wisconsin was seen streaking across the sky from west to east about 10 p.m. Wednesday. Witnesses overwhelmed emergency response phone lines, reporting to have seen a yellow/blue fireball swiftly tracking from northwest to southeast. A meteorologist with the National Weather Service said the meteor exploded over Iowa County in southwest Wisconsin at about 24,000 feet, showering meteorites, beginning some forest fires. A window rattling sonic boom was reported by witnesses.

Data wanted from meteor in Wisconsin

If you got to see the meteor in Wisconsin, the International Meteor Organization wants to hear from you. This Details with some precision about where the meteor in Wisconsin landed is a big pay day for The International Meteor Organization for helping scientists find any possible meteorites. Any details given will help scientists track the orbit of the meteor and link it to either asteroids or comets.

The video recording the meteor in Wisconsin

The meteor in Wisconsin was a natural object that originated in outer space. When it entered the atmosphere, friction caused it to superheat into a brightly glowing fireball captured on video. Any pieces of the meteor that actually hit the Earth can be called "meteorites." As of February 2010, about 1,086 meteorites are found after witnesses reported them as meteors. Well over 38,000 meteorites have been found. Meteorites were found on the moon by Apollo astronauts also.

Was the meteor in Wisconsin turned into a meteorite?

Although bigger than most meteors, the meteor in Wisconsin wasn't unique. The American Meteor Society Fireball Sightings Log: 2010 shows almost daily reports of meteor sightings around the country. However, meteorite discoveries are rare. On Jan. 22, 2010, a meteorite struck Dr. Frank Ciampi's office building in Lorton, VA. The meteorite punched a hole within the roof and ripped up the floor about 10 feet from where Ciampi was working. Fragments of meteor about the size of a tennis ball were strewn about the room. He won't need a loan to fix it since damage was light.

Unlikely for meteor in Wisconsin

According to astronomer Alan Harris on wikianswers.com, the chances of being killed by a meteorite in any person’s lifetime are about the same as Bill Gates needing a payday installment loans: 1 in 700,000.” As a comparison,” he said, “you’re more likely to die in a fireworks accident; But what’s funny is, this is a slightly higher chance than being killed by a terrorist!” The last impact on a human was in 1954, when Elaine Hodges of Sylacauga, Ala., was struck in the hip when napping on her couch. There is a famous picture in Life magazine of her showing the image.

Meteor in Wisconsin not the first

This wasn't first fireball to have an impact on Wisconsin. Scientists, years ago saw something different about rocks around Wavery, Wis., and concluded an ancient catastrophic event occurred reports Space.com. They believe a 650- to 700-foot meteorite crashed into the earth at speeds up to 67,500 mph. The impact 450 million years ago released a lot more than 1,000 megatons of explosive energy, blasting a massive hole in a 4-mile area called Rock Elm about 70 miles east of Minneapolis, 3 scientists said in an article published within the Geological Society of America Bulletin. Shale, dirt, and sediment filled the hole over time. Wisconsin had a shallow sea covering it at the time, blunting the impact. Within the world, you will find around 200 meteorite impact online websites known. Only a couple dozen are in the US. Scientists suggest that they occur only each and every few hundred thousand years, and only a couple dozen in the US. It is believed they only happen each a! nd every few hundred thousand years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfKrd2NrnHk

Article Sources

National Weather Service

The American Meteor Society

wikianswers.com

Space.com