Bright Meteor Seen Streaking Across Sky
Colorado Spotters Say It Had Huge Tail That Changed Colors
POSTED: 7:23 a.m. MDT October 7, 2002
UPDATED: 11:31 a.m. MDT October 7, 2002
DENVER -- A fireball was seen in Utah, Colorado and southern Wyoming Sunday night just before 7:30 p.m., 7NEWS reported.
The bright fireball was so large that some spectators thought that it came down near them.
Peter Wilensky, meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Colorado Basin River Forecast Center, said the fireball was probably a meteor burning up in the atmosphere.
Eyewitnesses say that the object changed several colors -- from green to orange to purple --before it burned out completely
"People said it had a 500-foot tail and it was huge, like a
meteor, and green and orange," La Plata County, Colo., sheriff's
dispatcher Kristy Lee said.
The Weber Area Consolidated Dispatch Center in northern Utah
received about 50 calls, with some saying it looked like it might
have been a plane that crashed.
Weber County sheriff's Sergeant Jeff Lasater says about 10
officers from the three counties responded to the calls.
At one point, they searched for wreckage near mile marker 91 on
Interstate 84 in Utah.
"Our initial report was that a plane went down in
the canyon area," Lasater said.
A medical helicopter was called to the scene and an air search
was made for signs of wreckage.
Others thought that it was errant fireworks or a distress call.
In San Juan County, one of the sightings was by a group of
people at a cabin 10 miles west of Blanding. They thought it might
have been a distress flare that had been fired near them. The
sheriff's office started to dispatch a deputy to the site before
other reports of the meteor came in, including one from north of
Blanding.
No man-made objects fell from space Sunday night, said Major Ed
Thomas, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense
Command in Colorado Springs, Colo., which tracks satellites and
space debris.
"We don't have a mission to track meteorites, but that's got to
be what it is," Thomas said.
Authorities believe that because of the size of the meteor, there could be some debris found in the area.
Scientists from the Denver Museum of Science are investigating and are interested in hearing from you if you saw the meteor, especially if you live on the Western Slope.
The bright fireball was so large that some spectators thought that it came down near them.
Peter Wilensky, meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Colorado Basin River Forecast Center, said the fireball was probably a meteor burning up in the atmosphere.
Eyewitnesses say that the object changed several colors -- from green to orange to purple --before it burned out completely
"People said it had a 500-foot tail and it was huge, like a
meteor, and green and orange," La Plata County, Colo., sheriff's
dispatcher Kristy Lee said.
The Weber Area Consolidated Dispatch Center in northern Utah
received about 50 calls, with some saying it looked like it might
have been a plane that crashed.
Weber County sheriff's Sergeant Jeff Lasater says about 10
officers from the three counties responded to the calls.
At one point, they searched for wreckage near mile marker 91 on
Interstate 84 in Utah.
"Our initial report was that a plane went down in
the canyon area," Lasater said.
A medical helicopter was called to the scene and an air search
was made for signs of wreckage.
Others thought that it was errant fireworks or a distress call.
In San Juan County, one of the sightings was by a group of
people at a cabin 10 miles west of Blanding. They thought it might
have been a distress flare that had been fired near them. The
sheriff's office started to dispatch a deputy to the site before
other reports of the meteor came in, including one from north of
Blanding.
No man-made objects fell from space Sunday night, said Major Ed
Thomas, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense
Command in Colorado Springs, Colo., which tracks satellites and
space debris.
"We don't have a mission to track meteorites, but that's got to
be what it is," Thomas said.
Authorities believe that because of the size of the meteor, there could be some debris found in the area.
Scientists from the Denver Museum of Science are investigating and are interested in hearing from you if you saw the meteor, especially if you live on the Western Slope.Copyright 2002 by TheDenverChannel.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
