TUESDAY 27 JULY
E-mail to all committee Members
QUOTE
I received a call from Georgio at the Wortelgat Nature Reserve that he saw a bright moving object in the sky between Gans Baai and Stanford sometime between 10.00 pm and 11.00 pm that appeared to break up as it approached Stanford area.
Did any of you see it and/or possibly know what it might have been?
John
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Reply from Steve.
Didn’t see it. But it sounds very interesting. Hopefully some other reports may come in.
John, can you get back to Georgio and ask him:
1.At what altitude (degrees above horizon) did it a) appear and b) disappear and for how long?
2. Was there any particular colour?
3. Any sound which could be attributed to the object?
4.Any visible smoke trail after and for how long?
5. When it broke up: approx. how many pieces and did they continue along the same trajectory and “fizzle out” or more or less fall straight down?
If he can answer some (or all) of these questions it may turn out to be a worthwhile ”fireball” or bolide which is the remnant of a pretty big meteor which survived initial burnout in the upper atmosphere and should be reported to Tim Cooper at ASSA. The fallout (if enough detail is available) will have meteorite hunters out searching for the impact area.
Steve.
John` I was returning from holiday and was travelling between Villiersdorp and the the T junction to the N2 at about 21.30 hrs last night and noticed a distinct orange glow in the distance and still remarked to Linda that there appears to be a mountain on fire. After sometime this light disappeared and I was perplexed and I put it down to a farm light in the distance but this light I saw must be the same light that you are talking about
Piet Daneel
THURSDAY 29 JULY
Article in Diary section of Hermanus Times from me asking for any other sightings – see HT
I just read the article in “Have You Heard” about George Lombardi’s sighting of the fireball/meteor.
I saw it. My Name’s Denis Grace and I live in Westcliff near the new harbour. I was taking our dog out when I saw the bright light streak across the sky from West to East traversing from what looked, where I stood, the new harbour heading down towards Stanford area. I first thought that it was a flare but the speed and trajectory didn’t make sense. The “ball” was clear followed by a “tail” that was causing bright or burning particles to fall from it. Almost like a fireworks rocket dispenses of it’s powder. The ball itself became brighter and brighter as it came down changing from orange, red interchanging, then to a bright light. I lost sight of it as further view was obscured by a wall. It left me rather puzzled as I couldn’t make out if it was small and close in distance to me or rather big and far out in distance. In my opinion it was either a meteor or space junk. But irrespective it was quite a spectacular sight. Glad someone else saw it.
Hope this helps? Let George Lombardi know if you can?
Regards
Denis Grace