http://www.thecourier.co.uk/febcourierrede/NewsStory.cfm?StoryID=30924&Today=310103
METEORITE HAS MAN SEEING STARS
By Michael Alexander
The Courier (United Kingdom)
January 31, 2003
AN EAST NEUK man was still rubbing his eyes in bewilderment
yesterday after seeing what he reckons was a meteorite
blazing across the early morning sky.
The man was walking his dog near Kingsbarns around 7am on
Tuesday when a bright object arced across the sky at great
speed, creating enough light, he said, to illuminate his dog
in the dawn gloom.
The man told The Courier, "It seemed to come from miles up.
It came across the sky and I could see my dog with the
light. I took a sighting through the trees to give me a
rough line of where I might search. I just wondered if
anyone else had reported anything?"
Yesterday, Dr Bill Samson, astronomer at the Mills
Observatory in Dundee, said he had received no other reports
but he could not rule out the possibility that the man had
seen a meteorite.
Dr Samson explained that there was probably enough loose
material in orbit around our sun to create another planet.
This was a mix of rock and iron left over from the formation
of the solar system billions of years ago, and occasionally
particles ranging from the size of a grain of sand to larger
objects would enter the Earth's atmosphere.
When an object missed the Earth, astronomers called it a
meteoroid and if it entered the Earth's atmosphere it was a
meteor, more commonly known as a "shooting star". On the
rare occasions when an object made it to the ground,
however, it became known as a meteorite.
Dr Samson said, "There is no scheduled meteor shower at the
moment but we do get the odd meteorite nonetheless. The
meteor would look like a bright light moving quickly across
the sky leaving a bright or smoky trail behind it. Most are
about the size of a grain of sand but something the size of
a golf ball might make it all the way to the ground."
Dr Samson referred to a case in Strathmore around 100 years
ago when a meteorite reportedly smashed through a house.
However, he said it might be difficult for an eye witness to
be sure of what they had seen since a grain of rock entering
the atmosphere at 40 miles per second would leave a trail
some 40 or 50 miles up. The trail was left when the
atmosphere glowed rather than the particle itself.
He added, "With this in mind it might look like something is
coming to ground close by when in actual fact it could be a
speck of dust burning up at great altitude half-way across
the North Sea."
A spokesman for Fife Police said the force had no
information regarding an incident over Kingsbarns on Tuesday
morning. However, he confirmed that Tornados from RAF
Leuchars were flying in the area around that time.
Dr Samson said he would like to hear from anyone who thinks
they might have borne witness to this or other alleged
meteorite sightings. He can be contacted at the Mills
Observatory on (01382) 435846.
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