[meteorite-list] Meteorite Fall In Washington?

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.thedailyworld.com/daily/2003/Jul-15-Tue-2003/news/news1.html

Rocks in Elma may be remains of a meteor 
By Levi Pulkkinen 
Daily World (Washington)
July 15, 2003

ELMA - Elma High School Senior Brian Reed was bored,
just taking a night drive through Elma's dark, deserted
streets. Closing on 1 a.m., he, his cousin Scott Reed and
fellow Elma Senior Dan Raney hadn't found any more
excitement after midnight than before it.

Then, Reed says, a meteor tore open the night sky.

"We were just driving down the road, and I just saw this big,
bright flash," the 18 - year - old said. "At first, I thought it
was a shooting star or a falling star or something.

"It looked like fireworks, but it had a tail about six or seven -
feet long."

Reed said the falling rock appeared to break apart as it
approached the earth, exploding before impact. 

The young men decided to investigate, and headed from the
freeway toward Elma High School, where they believed the
fragments struck. 

"We went out there and started looking around, and we saw
a bunch of divot holes in the sand of the track out there,"
Reed said. "We looked for a while, then we went and got a
couple of cops."

Raney, 17, said he tried to pick up a piece of the still - hot
rock and burned his hand. 

Soon police joined the young men's investigation, examining
the pock - marked asphalt and dinged ground. 

Toby Smith, a University of Washington astronomy lecturer
and meteorite researcher, said Reed's description of events
matches with the stories told by others who have seen falling
meteors.

"It sort of has the hallmarks of being a classic meteorite fall,"
Smith said. "It's actually very rare (to see a meteor strike
the earth), but, as the population density grows, we get more
people reporting seeing this type of thing. 

"These types of meteorite fall are reported about once or
twice a year."

After flagging down a Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Deputy,
Reed called his mother and contacted the Elma Police
Department. Working a graveyard shift, Elma Officer Travis
Bealert took the call.

According to Elma Police sources, the officer arrived at the
scene to find the young men searching for pieces of rock.
After examining the site himself, Bealert apparently
continued on his patrol.

Bealert's shift ended early Tuesday and attempts to contact
him were unsuccessful.

Though more than 20,000 tons of material strike the earth's
atmosphere annually, Smith said nearly all of it burns up
before it strikes the ground. Very rarely is material that
actually strikes the earth actually seen.

If the Elma meteorites are extraterrestrial, Smith said he
believes it may be the first meteor strike witnessed in
Washington's history. Six other meteorites have been
recovered in Washington.

Smith said a similar strike was witnessed near a Chicago
suburb last year.

"These things are seen to happen," he said. "Meteorites are
very, very rare things, but a lot of them fall."

The astronomer said meteors passing through the earth's
atmosphere usually burn and deform, leaving a dark, glassy
skin on the rock.

"It really looks like a burnt crust. That's usually a dead
giveaway," Smith said. "If they have the crusts on them,
there's a very good possibility that these could be
meteorites."

Until the rock has been examined, however, Smith said it is
difficult to be certain of its origin.

But, how do three young men of Elma top off their out - of -
this - world night? Snacks, of course.

"We went down to the store behind the bowling alley ... and
got something to eat," Reed said. "We were still pretty
excited."