[Kat]
Tuesday night I heard on the news that a pilot had seen a "meteor" over the Pacific Northwest burn up on entry. Video from a Idaho national guard armory shows a rather bright, burning ball of fire streak across the sky, a brief "explosion" and then it was gone. (story and video here)
The pilot thought the meteor had hit the ground, but no one has found it yet. He described it as "suitcase sized". A scientist from the observatory said that the sky often plays optical illusions on people and size is too difficult to tell. It could be seen as far away as Montana.
My first thought on hearing about the meteor was, "Oh! Did we shoot down the satellite?" and somebody mistook it for a meteor?
Then, Wednesday, reports that we shot the satellite down...on Wednesday, after the shuttle landed, 130 miles over the Pacific. In order to keep the shuttle from being endangered by any debris. The Pentagon said:
"Nearly all of the debris will burn up on re-entry within 24-48 hours and the remaining debris should re-enter within 40 days," it said.
Typical naming strategies to recover the pieces: Burnt Frost.
Who was reading the Frosted Flakes box when they came up with that?
Just sayin'!
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