Meteor Shower Scary, Stunning & 'Kind Of Exciting'
Scientists Call For All Meteor Fragments
POSTED: 11:47 a.m. CST March 27, 2003
UPDATED: 10:09 a.m. CST March 28, 2003
CHICAGO -- 
A flash in the sky and the rumbling sounds of a faraway explosion alerted hundreds of south suburban residents Wednesday night.
Reporting those details to authorities, callers flooded police departments, fire departments and various television stations overnight.
NBC5's Kim Vatis, reporting from Park Forest, said it turned out to be a meteor shower "that forced a shower of panic calls" to authorities all over the Midwest.
In Park Forest, some people who were in their living rooms watching war coverage, thought the United States was under attack with the amazing light show produced by the meteors.
It started with a blast of light and a thunderous sound, witnesses told Vatis. Then, chunks of meteorites dropped from the sky. One of the larger segments fell through the roof of a family home and into the bedroom where a young boy was sleeping.
"Then all the sudden a big rock came down, right through that hole there," Noe Garza said, pointing to the hole through which one could see the branches of a nearby tree. "It happened too quick. I didn't know what to think and now I'm thinking, afterwards, you know? Wow."
SLIDESHOW: Meteor Shower, Park Forest
Vatis said that the force of the meteor not only ripped through the roof and ceiling of the house, but it shattered the window, ricocheted off the windowsill and struck the mirrored closet door on the other side of the room.
"I don't think anyone's going to believe me," said the man's son, explaining why he was bringing a small bag of fragments to school with him.
Roberta Garza laughed as she showed Vatis where a meteor had gone through the plate glass of her home.
"It's kind of exciting, I guess," she said.
"Where's my insurance agent," quipped her husband nearby.
Numerous homes and cars in Park Forest were slightly damaged, Vatis said. The light show itself was overwhelming, witnesses said, and in this time of war, particularly frightening.
"I saw an unusually bright flash of light that seemed to be coming from the west. It lasted about 10 seconds and then, all the sudden, it was like instant daylight," said Officer Bob Boyle or the Park Forest police.
"At first I thought it was gunfire and then it sounded like thunder, and then it rattled everything," another officer added.
Vatis said local scientists are now in a frenzy, saying that the meteorites predate earth and create a celestial light show as they penetrate the earth's atmosphere.
The energy locked up in the object itself hitting the atmosphere ... releases it in the form of heat. It's an explosion of light," explained Paul Sipiera, a meteorite researcher.
Scientists are urging people to turn over all fragments of the meteors they find, as study of them could help explain the origin of the solar system.
This is the ninth meteor shower recorded in Illinois, Vatis said, the first one being recorded in 1928.
A flash in the sky and the rumbling sounds of a faraway explosion alerted hundreds of south suburban residents Wednesday night.
Reporting those details to authorities, callers flooded police departments, fire departments and various television stations overnight.
NBC5's Kim Vatis, reporting from Park Forest, said it turned out to be a meteor shower "that forced a shower of panic calls" to authorities all over the Midwest.
In Park Forest, some people who were in their living rooms watching war coverage, thought the United States was under attack with the amazing light show produced by the meteors.
It started with a blast of light and a thunderous sound, witnesses told Vatis. Then, chunks of meteorites dropped from the sky. One of the larger segments fell through the roof of a family home and into the bedroom where a young boy was sleeping.
"Then all the sudden a big rock came down, right through that hole there," Noe Garza said, pointing to the hole through which one could see the branches of a nearby tree. "It happened too quick. I didn't know what to think and now I'm thinking, afterwards, you know? Wow."
SLIDESHOW: Meteor Shower, Park Forest
Vatis said that the force of the meteor not only ripped through the roof and ceiling of the house, but it shattered the window, ricocheted off the windowsill and struck the mirrored closet door on the other side of the room.
"I don't think anyone's going to believe me," said the man's son, explaining why he was bringing a small bag of fragments to school with him.
Roberta Garza laughed as she showed Vatis where a meteor had gone through the plate glass of her home.
"It's kind of exciting, I guess," she said.
"Where's my insurance agent," quipped her husband nearby.
Numerous homes and cars in Park Forest were slightly damaged, Vatis said. The light show itself was overwhelming, witnesses said, and in this time of war, particularly frightening.
"I saw an unusually bright flash of light that seemed to be coming from the west. It lasted about 10 seconds and then, all the sudden, it was like instant daylight," said Officer Bob Boyle or the Park Forest police.
"At first I thought it was gunfire and then it sounded like thunder, and then it rattled everything," another officer added.
Vatis said local scientists are now in a frenzy, saying that the meteorites predate earth and create a celestial light show as they penetrate the earth's atmosphere.
The energy locked up in the object itself hitting the atmosphere ... releases it in the form of heat. It's an explosion of light," explained Paul Sipiera, a meteorite researcher.
Scientists are urging people to turn over all fragments of the meteors they find, as study of them could help explain the origin of the solar system.
This is the ninth meteor shower recorded in Illinois, Vatis said, the first one being recorded in 1928.
Copyright 2003 by NBC5.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Sponsored Links |
Like online video? Then you'll love Now See This.
|
