Re: fireball or reentry ... ?
Markku Vanamo (mvanamo@sci.fi)
Fri, 20 Nov 1998 21:05:01 -0800
Steven Rogers wrote:
>
> Has anyone else ever heard inexplicable "sounds" associated with meteors,
> or satellites?
Reading this list one might even ask if anyone has ever even witnessed
a satellite to reenter the atmosphere. I wouldn't mind if the regularly
posted decay list would contain the assumed location of reentries after
the actual decay times has been established. Though it serves no purpose
I find that information being very interesting.
As for sounds with meteors the answer is yes. In 1993, few days before
the Perseids meteor shower reached its peak, I heard a sound like tight
plug being forced out from a hollow tube with air pressure. I didnīt saw
the fireball but it illuminated surroundings simultaneously with the sound.
I managed to see the train as I turned around. I even got the fireball
on the film.
On the photograph the train ends with bulge where the fireball obviously
exploded and caused the sound I heard. I lay on the roof and on my right
half a meter away there was a chimney, covered with sheet metal which might
have converted radiation of some certain frequency to audiable sound. The
neigbourhood was silent so I was and Iīm absolutely sure the fireball did
produced the sound in some form or in other. It wasn't loud.
There were also powerlines about 10 meters away on my left side.