Watch Live: Congressional Hearing on IRS Scandal

Live Now on TheBlaze Radio: ‘The Buck Sexton Show’

Environment

Fireball Complete With Sonic Boom Captured Streaking Across Calif. Sky

Oct. 19, 2012 8:50am Liz Klimas

Orionid Meteor Shower From Halleys Comet Debris Begins This Weekend

In this photo taken Oct. 17, 2012 and provided by Phil Terzian is a shooting star above the Montebello Open Space Preserve in Palo Alto, Calif. Streaking fireballs lighting up California skies and stunning stargazers are part of a major meteor shower, and the show is just getting started. (Photo: AP/Phil Terzian)

SAN FRANCISCO (TheBlaze/AP) — A streaking fireball lit up California skies and stunned stargazers Wednesday night, and professional observers continue looking upward at the night sky as more meteors are on the way this weekend.

The exploding streak was visible over the San Francisco Bay area and other parts of Northern California, and there were also reports of a loud boom.

“It looked like a plane crash or rocket,” said Philip Terzian, an amateur astronomer who happened to photograph the meteor while atop a ridge around Palo Alto.

Orionid Meteor Shower From Halleys Comet Debris Begins This Weekend

(Image: AP video screenshot)

Terzian had gathered there with a group of other astronomy enthusiasts. The group had not met in some time and just happened to be there for the meteor.

“It was a `Holy Cow!’ moment,” he told The Associated Press.

Watch footage of the fireball over Oakland, Calif.:

Other observers described the streak as crescent shaped, and reddish orange in color.

The sound people reported could have been a sonic boom from the meteor traveling faster than the speed of sound, said Jonathan Braidman, an astronomy instructor with the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland.

“It’s like a jet fighter,” he said.

Braidman said the meteor was likely metal and rock from the asteroid belt. Astronomers at the center estimated its size as that of a car. Space.com reported meteor expert Peter Jenniskens with the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute saying the “biggest question at the moment is whether this ended over land or ocean.” Braidman said it probably broke into much smaller pieces before hitting the ground and then scattered over hundreds of miles.

Wednesday’s light streak comes as astronomers expect a more dramatic light display this weekend that is part of the large, fast Orionid meteor shower, so-named because it has the Orion constellation as a backdrop. The Orion meteors are space debris from Halley’s Comet, and they become visible as the earth crosses through their trail, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Braidman said he does not think Wednesday’s meteor and this weekend’s Orionid shower are connected.

The shower’s peak is supposed to be Saturday night and Sunday morning. The timing is fitting, because Oct. 20 is Astronomy Day, according to Space.com.

If you’re not around or if poor weather is hampering your view of the meteor shower, Space.com reported the Slooh Space Camera will begin airing 11 hours of “free cosmic programming” at 3:30 p.m. (EST) here.

If you end up taking any video or pictures of the meteor shower this weekend that you care to share, email them to lklimas@theblaze.com.

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

Back to The Blaze »

Comments (39)

RonNY
Posted on October 21, 2012 at 6:22pm
Wow you come to read an article about meteors and you see hateful homophobic comments. I bet those people consider themselves Christians as well.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
jaylew
Posted on October 21, 2012 at 4:28pm
It’s what God calls a warning shot.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
meister41
Posted on October 21, 2012 at 3:57pm
ET is returning just in time for Halloween! He just loves those Reese”s Piecee’s!!!!!!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
ArmedAndReallyPissed
Posted on October 21, 2012 at 3:16pm
The Aliens have arrived. TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER EARTHLINGS……….OH, WHAT ? WAIT……….IT’S WHO ????…………NEVER MIND. Load up boys, were outa here.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
alpha2omega47
Posted on October 20, 2012 at 11:25am
They are going to start a new series on MSNBC called Queers From Outer Space Return to San Francisco Wearing Flowers in their Antennae and Reclaim The Sperm They Left Behind.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- IsupportisraelNGod
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 3:04pm
  homophobe =///= Christian.
  
  Report this comment
davecorkery
Posted on October 20, 2012 at 9:33am
Must be Mitts campaign falling to bits. Probably his head exploding from the massive vacuum inside.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Stoic one
  Posted on October 21, 2012 at 9:22pm
  “o”: 2.6 trillion minus 3.8 trillion equals a balanced budget.
  
  Romney: NO! that is a negative number! that is a deficit!
  
  So a negative number kinda represent a vacuum………….
  
  so i guess you are kinda right!
  
  Report this comment
hudent
Posted on October 20, 2012 at 3:50am
must be obama presidency falling to bits..sonic boom was a big fart from someone.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
blacktape242
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 11:47pm
my wife and I were on a walk in sacramento and saw it. it was amazing!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
F_Obama
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 6:49pm
*presses mute and goes to another page while STUPID ad plays*

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- GENEPAGLIARI
  Posted on October 19, 2012 at 8:08pm
  Did that at work and just came back. Was not worth waiting for. First off, I guess you had to have been there. And second, no gorillas again. Unless they were behind it. After seeing this video, think it is time to blow up the Embassy? Or should we ask Obummer first? O.K., @ 9:11 p.m. or is it 7/11? Can’t remember. Quick, watch the video again and pick up some clues.
  If there’s no video can you hear the gorilla fall?
  
  Report this comment
- Xplorer
  Posted on October 19, 2012 at 8:59pm
  no kidding, after a 30 second commercial, then another 15 second commercial, I was able to finally view the 50 second 2 pixel video lol. (then I had the privilege of typing this over again because I got a page error after clicking reply)
  
  Report this comment
Oneirishman
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 12:30pm
S.F. Has become so gay you can now see flamers in the sky.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- 19RANDY59
  Posted on October 19, 2012 at 1:21pm
  LOL, they say it was the size of a car. probably some f@gg@tt in a Chevy Volt
  
  Report this comment
- GENEPAGLIARI
  Posted on October 19, 2012 at 8:01pm
  hit that nail on the head
  
  Report this comment
19RANDY59
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 12:13pm
Just another subtle reminder of global warming, lol. Believe me, the left will tie it in somehow. They will probably start charging a viewing tax. After all isn’t that what the environmental movement is all about? Collect taxes, fees and fines, to support self propagating government agencies, so tree huggers have something they can call a job. Yeah, it was a site to see, but this world is so screwed up politically, it just reminds me that the libs will do, or use any means to rip off the producers. So, I’ll complete my rant by reminding you all of some of the big lies. Coal, and oil are green energy. They are made naturally by the earth, just like wind. They are also renewable, because the earth never stops making them, just like wind. Then after we use them they return to the earth from whence they came. Go ahead, and try to disprove that.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- James Bateman
  Posted on October 19, 2012 at 9:51pm
  My God, there is still someone with a brain.
  
  Report this comment
Ilikepeople
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 10:05am
Lol. A meteor, no a piece of Haley’s Comet. The was a meteor, get back to work.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Walkabout
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 9:57am
Maybe this will pique the interests of TARDS & cvause them toi reconsider adequate funding NASA.

Most likely the Tards will say we need to conquer poverty 1st! Well they have been fighting that war using their methods since about 1965 & losing.

I would like to point out there is no closed form solution to a 3 body problem in planetary mechanics.
We have 9 major bodies in the solar system. If we can;t predict what 3 bodies will do, can we predict what 9 will do. Chances are that things will go on as they have before.

But it would be fooliush tom call the solar system to be in a stable equilibrium. Unstable is more like it. A planet such as earth is not likely to go careening out of the solar system, into Sol or into Jupiter like duirn g the infancy of the solar system. But think of a bathtub curve that they use to predict failures of a system. There are a lot of failures early on & them it level off. Actually it usually increases slightly over time.

Basically we have a window of opportunity to live & thrive on eareth. We don’t know when it will close.

But Tards make NASA into a Muslims outreach program (a failure) instead of a space exploration & exploitation.

Maybe a Tard city has to be flattened by a metoer beofre they wake up & stop playing gasmes like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
thegreatcarnac
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 9:53am
Somewhere a person has just walked out to his driveway to go to work and there is a tiny meteor embedded in his windshield. The glass is cracked like a spider-web pattern and he knows his day will not be a good one.., the heavens have decreed it.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
saneromeo
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 9:47am
But how will this help us reach out to Islam? That is why NASA was created after all…
http://saneromeo.wordpress.com/

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Walkabout
  Posted on October 19, 2012 at 10:02am
  When you read enough stories in scioence mags about the space environment, you realize how hostile space is. Solar panels & wind energy is not going to give us the power we need to survive.
  
  Chances are you can’t be friends with someone who deosn’t want to be friends with you. It does happen but not often.
  
  Report this comment
KickinBack
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 9:35am
The angels are golfing and SanFran is the pin…

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
MistaB
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 9:28am
It was George Bush’s fault.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
jackact
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 9:19am
….Possibly following the trajectory of Obama’s career?

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Frodo RinosBane
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 9:18am
A warning from God.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
eternal_vigilance
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 9:10am
So, a celestial observatory captures a picture of a meteoric event on a security camera?

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on October 19, 2012 at 9:26am
  All other cameras and telescopes now face only East by order of the POTUS.
  
  Report this comment
dublinthewagons
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 9:07am
Air force 1 going to a fundraiser

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on October 19, 2012 at 9:28am
  Now that you brought it up, do you suppose they will have to retire the current Air Force One in January? I would think that the thing is about worn out by now.
  
  Report this comment
mtclem
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 9:03am
That was Obama’s Ego crashing back to Earth!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Al J Zira
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 8:58am
Felix Baumgartner strikes again! He needs to be nailed down!

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on October 19, 2012 at 9:30am
  lol
  
  Report this comment
N37BU6
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 8:57am
The headline “Fireball Complete With Sonic Boom Captured Streaking Across Calif. Sky” is misleading due to the sonic boom not being captured in the video… unless there’s a problem at my end.

Anyone?

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on October 19, 2012 at 9:33am
  Fox had this story a couple of mornings ago. The eyewitnesses reported the sonic boom.
  
  Report this comment
- N37BU6
  Posted on October 19, 2012 at 9:47am
  I have no doubt there was a sonic boom… my issue is with the wording of the headline. It implies that the audio was captured as well.
  
  I just really wanted to hear it.
  
  Report this comment
- PIGSWILLNEVERFLY
  Posted on October 21, 2012 at 8:47pm
  I head many sonic booms growing up in Minnesota. They are very loud and besides hearing them you feel them. The sound jolts the body physically.
  
  Report this comment
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on October 19, 2012 at 8:56am
Amazing, no matter how many times you see it happen.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply

It appears that you have Javascript Disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser preferences for a better user experience on TheBlaze. You can not comment without Javascript enabled.