Help needed again from meteorland

Wayne T Hally (wayne.t.hally@bangate.tek.com)
Tue, 10 Mar 98 14:42:22 EST

Hello, satell-ites
	Once again I beg your help on the event described below. This was the 
entire extent of what I've found regarding a "meteor shower" which 
allegedly hit only Northern California Sunday evening, March 8th. Not too 
many specifics are given, but I assume this would be between 1800 and 2000 
PST (0200-0400 UT on the 9th). This does not sound like meteors at all, 
rather it seems like a possible decaying satellite or rocket...or maybe a 
phalanx of irritated fireflies ...that is why I come to you again, hat in 
hand, pleading for assistance.
Was there any object expected or known to deorbit in this approximate time 
and place?
Unfortunately there are not too many details as this is a typical BAD 
ASTRONOMY report.
Any clues would be appreciated...and once again, if you find anything, I'd 
appreciate an e-mail as well, since I cannot read all items that are 
supposed to be in the SeeSAt digest version I subscribe to.
I've got to figure out why that is some day)
	Next I will be calling Griffith Observatory to see if they really said 
that (BTW, there are no significant meteor showers active at this time)

Meteor Astronomers thank you

Wayne T Hally
North American Meteor Network


Meteor shower stymies traffic near Sacramento

SAN FRANCISCO (March 9, 1998 07:42 a.m. EST http://www.nando.net) -- The
sun had just set when the sky filled with flaming objects falling to the
ground. Traffic slowed to a halt on Interstate 80 in Northern California
and police were flooded with worried calls about a possible plane crash.

Not to worry -- it was a 200-mile swath of meteors Sunday night.

"It was just getting dark and everybody was facing that direction just as
the sun was coming down," Coast Guard Lt. Alan Tubbs said. "It was the king
of all meteor showers."

The U.S. Coast Guard contacted Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, which
confirmed the meteor shower that stretched from Sacramento to Monterey.

r