East Coast go Boom.
July 24, 2001 12:53 AM   Subscribe

East Coast go Boom.
posted by nathan_teske (23 comments total)
 
Thank God it was a meteor. This is not the golden epoch during which I want an alien to ask to be taken to our leader.
posted by Opus Dark at 1:30 AM on July 24, 2001


CNN Washington Bureau Chief Frank Sesno was traveling in Pennsylvania and reported hearing "what sounded like a tremendous sonic boom" through the closed windows of his air-conditioned car.

Who cares if his car is air-conditioned or not. Absolute gobblede-gook journalism.

And lets hope this meteor bleeds like the one in evolution. That would be funny. Bye bye US.
posted by ajbattrick at 2:19 AM on July 24, 2001


This is not the golden epoch during which I want an alien to ask to be taken to our leader.

What's the matter with that? Greenspan's a good guy...

and anyway, could someone please tell me the significance of Frank Sesno owning an air-conditioned car? To explain why his windows were rolled up? Because air conditioners are noisy? Just to let us know that Frank is a "cool" guy? And why couldn't he have been travelling in the San Juaquin Valley -- "reporting to you live from Fresno, this is Frank Sesno." -- I've always wished for some sort of raisin blight just so I could hear those words...
posted by Bixby23 at 2:25 AM on July 24, 2001


'[Sesno] reported hearing "what sounded like a tremendous sonic boom" through the closed windows of his air-conditioned car.'

That indicates that the boom was loud enough to be heard over the AC and through the closed windows. It also helps to describe the scene. In fact, an earlier, slightly longer version of the story has Sesno hearing it "through the closed, smoky windows of my air-conditioned Lincoln as I wound my way through Pennsylvania hillbilly country with my favorite Barbra 8-track blasting on the stereo and another bowl of the cruelest dagga glowing in my hand."
posted by pracowity at 4:11 AM on July 24, 2001


I've had the occasional fantasy since I was knee-high to something that is not at all tall about riding that terminal tsunami in over a coastal city somewhere after a mid-ocean Major Impact. Seems to me it was inspired by a science fiction story I read as a pre-teen (that'd be late 70's sometime). Anyone?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:24 AM on July 24, 2001


Someone's got to fix that shuttle toilet. Every time they flush another meteorite scar. Ok, that was dumb.

On riding the Tsunami: Lucifer's Hammer, by Niven and Pournelle.
posted by mecran01 at 5:36 AM on July 24, 2001


This is clearly just a publicity stunt for the new Planet of the Apes movie (the pod crash).
posted by harmful at 6:05 AM on July 24, 2001


It was a weather balloon.
posted by solistrato at 6:46 AM on July 24, 2001


"East Coast go Boom." Funny, I thought this was going to be another story about the flailing Silicon Alley.
posted by waxpancake at 7:12 AM on July 24, 2001


Last night, about 9:30 p.m., knowing nothing about the meteorites, we were driving home through the dark country and I saw a flash of bright light in the sky over the hills. The strange thing is that we live in California. (That last sentence could probably be taken by itself - LOL)
posted by thunder at 7:18 AM on July 24, 2001


The aliens have landed... sweet. I can finally go home to my leader. ;)
posted by tsidel at 7:48 AM on July 24, 2001


We should count our blessings. Last time Tesla was screwing around like this we got Tunguska.
posted by frykitty at 8:03 AM on July 24, 2001


If you guys see any tripod-like things moving about the countryside and firing heat beams at stuff, just relax, germs will take them out eventually.
posted by UncleFes at 8:30 AM on July 24, 2001


I've read that the meteor was the size of a small car, which makes me wonder just how big a meteor has to be before it does do a Tunguska.
posted by briank at 8:35 AM on July 24, 2001


I just answered my own question:

The following data about Near-Earth Objects are from the Anglo-Australian Observatory's research astronomer Duncan Steel's book Rouge Asteroids and Doomsday Comets.

About 2,000 objects massive enough (1 km diameter) to cause global catastrophe are known to cross Earth's orbit. Such an impacting object would wipe out 25% of humanity.
About 10,000 objects of 500 m size cross Earth's orbit.
About 300,000 objects of 100 m size cross Earth's orbit.
About 150 million objects of 10 m size cross Earth's orbit.
Some 70% of potential impactors are asteroids; the rest are comets.
About 50% of the Earth-crossing asteroids most likely are extinct or dormant comets.


Go read this account from the first American scientist to ever see the Tunguska site first-hand.
posted by briank at 8:38 AM on July 24, 2001


Ladies and gentlemen, here is the latest bulletin from the Intercontinental Radio News. Toronto, Canada: Professor Morse of McGill University reports observing a total of three explosions on the planet Mars, between the hours of 7:45 P. M. and 9:20 P. M., eastern standard time. This confirms earlier reports received from American observatories. Now, nearer home, comes a special announcement from Trenton, New Jersey. It is reported that at 8:50 P. M. a huge, flaming object, believed to be a meteorite, fell on a farm in the neighborhood of Grovers Mill, New Jersey, twenty-two miles from Trenton.
posted by pracowity at 8:57 AM on July 24, 2001


My favorite part of the linked article:

"Thousands of residents of Peekskill, New York, got a similar show October 9, 1992. Several people who were videotaping a football game wound up with video of the space traveler's flaming course through the atmosphere. In that case, a 27.3-pound meteorite was discovered in the trunk of a 1980 Chevrolet Malibu. It cut through the lid of the trunk and came to rest underneath the car, having cut a path a few inches from the gas tank."

Neat, but what I really want to know is: Was the Malibu air-conditioned?
posted by Tubes at 9:08 AM on July 24, 2001


Stavros,

Are you think of Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle?
posted by Apoch at 9:09 AM on July 24, 2001


hmmmm, has anyone done a search of the phone books for names like John Yayas or John Smallberries or John Manyjars?
posted by machaus at 9:38 AM on July 24, 2001


Remind anyone of "Superman"?
posted by msacheson at 9:42 AM on July 24, 2001


actually, it does sound a bit like the commercial for the WB's upcoming Smallville
posted by tolkhan at 10:14 AM on July 24, 2001


...and don't forget John Bigboote, monkey boy!
posted by RakDaddy at 10:16 AM on July 24, 2001


A similar meteorite video can be found here.

Yes it is the one that fell on the Malibu.

No word on the air conditioning :) Maybe you could rent it to find out.
posted by andryeevna at 1:29 PM on July 24, 2001


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