[meteorite-list] Possible meteorite fall in Belgium

[Piper R.W. Hollier]

This is a translation of a posting to the Dutch Meteor Society list on Thursday 21 November:

Meteorite fallen in Limburg

A front-page article in the Belang van Limburg [newspaper] reports that a fist-sized stony meteorite fell in Genk [Belgium] on Wednesday. According to Frans Vanloo of the Euro Planetarium it smelled burned and had a crust. The meteorite had also made a crater in the road surface. According to the article the meteorite will be studied by scientists.

[end of translated posting]

As usual, the newspaper is reporting the object to be a meteorite even before it has been subjected to scientific scrutiny, though admittedly this report lacks the suspicious and sensationalistic elements of typical meterwrong "fall" reports, e.g. glowing red hot, set the grass on fire, off-scale readings on sheriff's geiger counter, etc. etc. etc.

An interesting coincidence is that a daylight fireball was sighted on 15 November at about 4:15 PM by an observer in Uithoorn, south of Amsterdam, heading in an easterly direction (Limburg is southeast of the observer's position). Here is a translation of the observer's comments:

I don't know the exact time; it was a little after 4 PM, I would estimate 4:15. It appeared at the zenith and went to the east in the direction of the moon which was already visible in the sky at that time, a trajectory between 070 and 090 degrees? It remained visible until just above the horizon (or might it have left the atmosphere again?). I think that the fireball itself was visible for three seconds; it went very fast. It didn't break up but did leave a trail which remained visible for a short time, and this while the sun was still shining.

[end of observer's comments]

Best wishes to all,

Piper


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