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Meteorite last night

Old 02-07-2018, 07:48 AM
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Default Meteorite last night

Last night we were just north of Omaha headed south at 32000 feet around 830 pm central time. We saw what looked like a star for a few minutes before it became apparent that whatever it was was moving. It then streaked across the sky with a tremendous light show before apparently burning itself out. I have seen plenty of falling stars over the years but this was way bigger. I was thinking maybe space junk junk or something. There was some guard chatter about it as it was happening. I looked in the news this morning to see if there was anything about it but nothing so far. Did anyone else see this by any chance??
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Old 02-07-2018, 07:52 AM
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Originally Posted by Wmuav8r View Post
Last night we were just north of Omaha headed south at 32000 feet around 830 pm central time. We saw what looked like a star for a few minutes before it became apparent that whatever it was was moving. It then streaked across the sky with a tremendous light show before apparently burning itself out. I have seen plenty of falling stars over the years but this was way bigger. I was thinking maybe space junk junk or something. There was some guard chatter about it as it was happening. I looked in the news this morning to see if there was anything about it but nothing so far. Did anyone else see this by any chance??
Sounds awesome! Go broncos!

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Old 02-07-2018, 07:54 AM
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It was a tesla.
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Old 02-07-2018, 07:56 AM
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Originally Posted by Wmuav8r View Post
Last night we were just north of Omaha headed south at 32000 feet around 830 pm central time. We saw what looked like a star for a few minutes before it became apparent that whatever it was was moving. It then streaked across the sky with a tremendous light show before apparently burning itself out. I have seen plenty of falling stars over the years but this was way bigger. I was thinking maybe space junk junk or something. There was some guard chatter about it as it was happening. I looked in the news this morning to see if there was anything about it but nothing so far. Did anyone else see this by any chance??
Didn't see it, but that thing could have been part of the space x rocket. I'm sure some parts of the upper stage and payload shield were allowed to re enter.
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Old 02-07-2018, 08:22 AM
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Was over Nebraska when I saw it. It was a flying Tesla.
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Old 02-07-2018, 09:22 AM
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Omaha?


Must've been the ghost of Curtis LeMay
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Old 02-07-2018, 10:13 AM
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Originally Posted by Wmuav8r View Post
Last night we were just north of Omaha headed south at 32000 feet around 830 pm central time. We saw what looked like a star for a few minutes before it became apparent that whatever it was was moving. It then streaked across the sky with a tremendous light show before apparently burning itself out. I have seen plenty of falling stars over the years but this was way bigger. I was thinking maybe space junk junk or something. There was some guard chatter about it as it was happening. I looked in the news this morning to see if there was anything about it but nothing so far. Did anyone else see this by any chance??
Mystery solved! This was what we saw. So yeah I guess it was a Tesla!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbc...3.html%3famp=y
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Old 02-07-2018, 10:16 AM
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Originally Posted by jcountry View Post
Didn't see it, but that thing could have been part of the space x rocket. I'm sure some parts of the upper stage and payload shield were allowed to re enter.
Maybe. Depending on when that stuff was released, it was probably in orbit or close enough to it to hang out for a long time, weeks, months, or more. Anything released prior to orbital velocity would have re-entered shortly after the launch... as it loses altitude atmospheric drag will pull it down very quickly.

The payload fairing was released pretty early, so I imagine it came down quick, might have taken a few hours, but more likely less than an hour.

More likely it was space debris (ie dead satellite) that had been up there for a while, or maybe a big meteor or even a small comet. Satellites and comets would probably provide better fireworks, since they would break up more than a meteor (typically solid rock/metal).
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Old 02-07-2018, 10:43 AM
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It was the final burn of SpaceX Falcon heavy sending the Tesla into history!
One of the coolest things I've witnessed!

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/02/0...status-center/
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Old 02-07-2018, 12:13 PM
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Originally Posted by trip View Post
It was the final burn of SpaceX Falcon heavy sending the Tesla into history!
One of the coolest things I've witnessed!

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/02/0...status-center/

The timing was right for the on-course burn.
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