From various sources.
From the NWS in Milwaukee, video links and radar images follow.
MANY REPORTS OF A BRIGHT FIREBALL HAVE BEEN FLOODING COUNTY SHERIFF
DISPATCH CENTERS ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF WISCONSIN THROUGH THE NIGHT.
THE FIREBALL WAS VISIBLE BETWEEN 10 PM AND 1015 PM CDT.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICES IN LA CROSSE…DAVENPORT AND DES
MOINES IOWA…AS WELL AS ST LOUIS AND KANSAS CITY MISSOURI HAVE
RECEIVED NUMEROUS REPORTS OF A FIREBALL FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT
OFFICIALS AND THE PUBLIC AROUND THE SAME TIME AS THE REPORTS IN
OUR COUNTY WARNING AREA.
WHILE NO OFFICIAL DETERMINATION HAS BEEN MADE OF WHAT CAUSED THE
FIREBALL…SPACE DEBRIS…METEOR ETC…THERE IS A METEOR SHOWER
CURRENTLY OCCURRING CALLED THE GAMMA VIRGINIDS. IT BEGAN APRIL 4TH
AND IS EXPECTED TO LAST THROUGH APRIL 21ST…WITH THE PEAK
ACTIVITY APRIL 14TH AND 15TH. A LARGE METEORITE COULD HAVE CAUSED
THE BRILLIANT FIREBALL THAT HAS BEEN REPORTED.
WE WILL PASS ALONG ANY FURTHER INFORMATION THAT BECOMES AVAILABLE.
Webcam video from UW-Madison AOS/SSEC: http://www.aos.wisc.edu/fireball/2010_04_14_fireball_loop_1024x768_long.gif
==================================
Fireball Wednesday Night 4/14
Just after 10 pm CDT Wednesday evening April 14th, a fireball or very bright meteor was observed streaking across the sky. The fireball was seen over the northern sky, moving from west to east. Well before it reached the horizon, it broke up into smaller pieces and was lost from sight. The fireball was seen across Northern Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Southern Wisconsin. Several reports of a prolonged sonic boom were received from areas north of Highway 20, along with shaking of homes, trees and various other objects including wind chimes. As of late Wednesday evening, it is unknown whether any portion of this meteorite hit the ground.
The fireball was caught on a webcam from UW-Madison AOS/SSEC.
www.aos.wisc.edu/fireball/2010_04_14_fireball_loop_1024x768_long.gif
The fireball was also caught by a Howard County Iowa Sheriff’s Deputy.
http://addins.kwwl.com/blogs/weather/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/fireball-web.wmv
This video was provided by KWWL TV.
Also, the Doppler Radar from the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities appeared to capture a portion of the smoke trail from the fireball at 0302z (1002 PM CDT), as seen in the image below. It appears as a thin line extending across portions of Grant and Iowa Counties in Wisconsin. This trail is positioned nearly 88 miles north-northeast of Davenport, Iowa at an elevation of just over 24,000 ft AGL.
click to enlarge
Dead serious, no joking, everyone repeat after me:
“I hope it wasn’t a nuclear bomb.”
It’s a ball of plasma fired from the space jellyfish about to move over Jones. What is that cloud? 🙂
Sometime around 1980 I had came home late (was living at my parent’s house then, around age 19) and was *ahem* relieving myself in our backyard when I saw the ground light up like someone had turned a flood light on. I looked up and saw a bright object streaking from east to west and pretty much right over my head. I could [i]hear[/i] it! Then it broke up into several pieces, making a number of booming sounds as it did so. It looked to me as if the debris could have possibly hit the ground a few miles to the west of me. I’ll never forget the sound it made, sort of like a fighter jet passing overhead.
Never heard anything about it. For all I know I was the only person to see the darn thing. It was about 3AM if I remember correctly, SW Missouri.
Not to worry, the Stargate team has this completely under control. 😉
Was that Pachauris’ career? Al Gore/Michael Mann’s credibility?
The comments at CNN are more fun to read. BTW, was it really visible for 15 minutes? Seems like an awfully long time for a meteor to be visible. I’m in North Western Indiana and wishing that I was outside last night, but it was awfully chilly at 11pm EST to be randomly outside looking at the sky.
Earthquakes, volcanoes, fireballs. More evidence that global warming is increasing the frequency of extreme events. Looking at my calendar, I see that we are getting closer to 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow.
In ancient times, people knew how to properly handle these events – with human sacrifices. Modern politicians are tending towards the same direction, only now they want to make sacrifices which hurt billions of people.
Ask the extremists. Hansen, Romm, Susie Solomon and the rest. They seem to have all the answers. There has to be a way they can turn this into a reason to be afraid of something new.
I live in mid-north Indiana and was out with my dog in my backyard and saw a flash in the sky to my northwest. Didn’t think much it because I thought a thunderstorm popped up due to the warm daytime heating we have been having in the midwest. When I checked my radar, there was nothing and I shrugged it off. Interesting that I might have seen the same thing. The object coming down from the sky precedes a smaller flash to the right in the video before the larger flash. Any reports of meteorite fragments being found anywhere in the region?
Burnoff from Jet fighter(s)?
I guess the sky really is falling.
Re stevengoddard (09:42:10) :
Maybe James Watt was right, just off by a few decades! 🙂
Eddie (09:39:45) :
BTW, was it really visible for 15 minutes? Seems like an awfully long time for a meteor to be visible.
The trail of debris is often visible that long or longer. Just like a contrail is visible long after the airplane has passed.
So if this thing turned out to be a Tunguska event do you think the AGWers would still be worried about man’s CO2 emissions?
I saw it as it came down, it was a stony meteorite about the diameter of a soccer ball. I didn’t see it explode, it was behind some trees. It had a very unusual green tint (copper?)
My wife, as always, thought I was making it up!
OK, now how much heat did that impart to the atmosphere? Did the IPCC figure out a forcing for meteorites?
Bill Junga (10:18:00),
Yes.
I swear I saw it last night and I thought the world was coming to an end
I live in SW Minnesota, had stepped outside to watch the lightning from the storms forming up to the south of me and saw the flash. This morning there were reports on the radio of people seeing it north of Minneapolis as well. To me it appeared to be headed in a southeasterly direction which would match up well with the other reports. It backlighted the tops of the storm clouds for a half a second, very cool effect. Much brighter than lightning.
I’m so disappointed. I live in Madison, WI and was outside a good deal last night, but I must have been indoors at the time. Drat!
This has absolutely nothing to do with Professor Hansen, Professor Mann and our Gav.
See, there was only one ball and not loads of balls.
The video in Milwaukee is more than 100 miles from the reported track! How high did this have to be for this video from the lakefront? 24,000 feet sounds too low. Heck what did this look like in Dodgeville?
“As of late Wednesday evening, it is unknown whether any portion of this meteorite hit the ground.”
Um…. Until it hits the ground, it’s not a “meteorite”; it’s a “meteor”. Before it enters the atmosphere, it’s a “meteoroid”.
So it’s unknown whether any portion of the meteor became a meteorite.
@Eddie (9:39:45): Visible for about 10 seconds. Here’s a video from a police dashboard cam: Wisconsin fireball
I’m still kicking myself. I was stargazing last night!!! Must have been in the house using the bathroom or something. Curses!
Any H Beam Piper readers thinking: Bethe Solar Phoenix?
anyway, that’s a pretty cool thing.
Holy crapola! Global Warming is falling on us in big chunks! I wonder why algore didn’t warn us about that?