Daylight NE US Fireball Seen In Numerous States...Reports Still Coming In 14FEB2011

IMAGE UPDATED 15 FEB 2011 (c) 2011 Mike Hankey

BREAKING NEWS...Update to NE Daylight Fireball 14FEB2011

NASA Huntsville Estimates Bolide Size And Weight

by ELPALLSKY:

In an e-mail to ELPALLSKY this evening, Dr. Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center-Huntsville AL, now estimates the size of the Valentine's Day-time NE US bolide at "just under 1 meter in diameter (~0.9 m), with a mass of about 850 kg. The energy estimate is ~10 tons TNT". This is smaller than initial estimates of roughly 3 m in diameter. With the aid of data from the IS51 Bermuda Infrasound Station (see here), Cooke revised his estimate downward to reflect those results.
Cooke says Bermuda provided him"with the back azimuth consistent with the doppler radar as reported by Mark Fries". More updates as they become available... 

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by ELPALLSKY: Inquiries continue in to ELPALLSKY regarding a brilliant daytime fireball seen over the Northeastern US. The event occured at roughly 12:30 pm EST and was seen primarily over Pennsylvania. Other states reporting include CN, RI and NY. FOXPHILLY was the first local media to report the event...see http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/021411-possible-meteorite-spotted-over-philadelphia for a map of sightings and the likely trajectory of the fireball (open water seems the best solution currently).

***NE US Readers...If you saw this event please send me an e-mail at wxtx01@gmail.com, or post to "comments" below. Please report officially to AMS as well. If you have pics or video, please e-mail them to me at wxtx01@gmail.com. Thank you.*** 

 

From Tara via E-mail...February 14, 2011

@ 12:15 driving Southeast in Middletown, NJ; witnessed a bright, brilliant blue sphere, with a yellow (fire-like) tail...Awesome sight...  Heaven's Valentine! Lasted approximately 5 seconds, then seemingly disappeared, or I thought "crashed" or exploded; Southeast over Atlantic Ocean.

No photos; I was driving, and my daughter was too busy on her phone texting to even notice the phenomena!!! 

Inquiries To ELPALLSKY PA, CN, RI, NJ, NY Daylight Fireball 14FEB2011...

Palmyra, New Jersey arrived from google.com on "elp allsky" by searching for i saw a shooting star elizabeth nj today.
12:06:38 -- 5 hours 14 mins ago
Scranton, Pennsylvania arrived from google.com on "elp allsky" by searching for meteor sighted on east coast 2/13/11.
15:53:33 -- 1 hour 49 mins ago
Oneonta, New York arrived from google.com on "elp allsky" by searching for fireball over long island at 12:40 pm today.
15:59:53 -- 1 hour 44 mins ago
Wolcott, Connecticut arrived from google.com on "elp allsky" by searching for feb 2011 ct meteorite.
16:56:25 -- 1 hour 1 min ago
Deer Park, New York arrived from google.com on "elp allsky: Daylight NE US Fireball Seen In Numerous States...Reports Still Coming In 14FEB2011" by searching for fireball over long island 12:40 2-14-2011.
Floral Park, New York arrived from google.com on "elp allsky: Daylight NE US Fireball Seen In Numerous States...Reports Still Coming In 14FEB2011" by searching for fireball in sky over pennsylvania 2/14/2011
From Space.com 15FEB2011...
  A rare daytime fireball lit up the sky over much of the eastern United States yesterday (Feb. 14), causing necks to crane and jaws to drop from Maryland to Massachusetts.
The fireball burned bright at around 12:35 p.m. EST (1735 GMT) or so, according to news reports. The wide region of visibility and its unmistakeable brightness make the fireball a unique event for lucky skywatchers, experts say.
"Not very common," said Joe Rao, SPACE.com's skywatching columnist. "Indeed, this was a very rare event."

Rao said he could only remember one other event like yesterday's, when a daytime meteor was widely seen across a broad swathe of land — and that happened in 1972, over the central U.S. and Canada.
The cause of yesterday's fireball was most likely...more here