# Fireball in the sky over the Midwest **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 16, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292 "2010-04-16T02:53:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/1 "2010-04-16T02:53:30Z")
Possibly a really big meteor. [Story here.](http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/04/15/midwest.fireball/index.html?section=cnn_latest) Anybody see it? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/2 "2010-04-16T03:00:35Z")
If I _had_ seen it, I would have wet myself. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/3 "2010-04-16T03:13:19Z")
Jeepers, fireballs from the sky, earthquakes, volcanoes… Oh, and one of our offices at work has an infestation of fruit flies; that tears it, as far as I’m concerned. END TIMES, END TIMES!!! ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/4 "2010-04-16T05:49:01Z")
Excellent! So, is now a good time to empty my 401K and run up my credit cards? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/5 "2010-04-16T08:06:26Z")
> [@](#): > > However, it said there is a meteor shower called Gamma Virginids that occurs from April 4 to April 21, with peak activity expected on Wednesday and Thursday. Not quite a mystery. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/6 "2010-04-17T14:36:51Z")
> [@shantih](#): > > Excellent! So, is now a good time to empty my 401K and run up my credit cards? Money is the root of all Evil. Those with money will suffer in the End Times. So save yourself while there’s still a chance; send it all to me. I’m a generous spirit who’ll take the Fall for you. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/7 "2010-04-17T15:56:14Z")
Sorry, that was me. I was just testing my latest upgrades to my Tungsten Dude suit. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/8 "2010-04-17T23:05:39Z")
It landed in a former Doper’s neighbor’s yard. I’ll send her a link and see if she wants to say more. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/9 "2010-04-18T01:19:48Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Sorry, that was me. I was just testing my latest upgrades to my Tungsten Dude suit. > > Stranger Molybdenum Guy is gonna kick your ass. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/10 "2010-04-18T03:54:21Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Molybdenum Guy is gonna kick your ass. Not a chance. I’m teamed up with Ferrocerium Girl. Molybdenum Guy is toast. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/11 "2010-04-18T04:00:10Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > It landed in a former Doper’s neighbor’s yard. I’ll send her a link and see if she wants to say more. No shit? Tell her not to touch the green stuff. Seriously, that’d be awesome. What’s the latest on the thing? My husband heard on “the news” (?) that it was a golf ball-size meteor. He must have misheard. Wouldn’t it have to be bigger than that to light up the sky like it did? Maybe it’s golf ball-size now. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/12 "2010-04-18T04:13:15Z")
I read a story saying it was somewhere in the range of softball to basketball sized. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/13 "2010-04-18T13:12:21Z")
Saw it, or rather saw the light from it, in northeast Iowa. It just lasted just a few seconds but it was a WTF moment. A hot-shot at one of the state universities is reported to have said that it was anywhere from basketball size to the size of a VW Bug. In any event, it seems to have broken up over east Iowa and come to earth somewhere in SW Wisconsin, around Baraboo. It will be interesting to see what we have when the fragments turn up. Some people around here say there was a noise like the rumble of distant thunder. I didn’t hear anything, but I was inside and the TV was on. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/14 "2010-04-18T14:58:56Z")
> [@Spavined\_Gelding](#): > > A hot-shot at one of the state universities is reported to have said that it was anywhere from basketball size to the size of a VW Bug. In any event, it seems to have broken up over east Iowa and come to earth somewhere in SW Wisconsin, around Baraboo. It will be interesting to see what we have when the fragments turn up. A meteor that was “the size of a VW Bug” at that altitude would have left a very large impact crater. Even an object that was “basketball sized” would be at the high end of possible for those observations. The shooting stars that you see occasionally are on the order of the size of a pea. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/15 "2010-04-18T15:06:13Z")
This was much larger than a “normal” shooting star. The videos I saw showed something that looked about half the size of the moon, though I understand most of that size is glowing ionized gas around the object. [Here’s a video of it](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8IelPM-csE). ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/16 "2010-04-18T19:17:41Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > A meteor that was “the size of a VW Bug” at that altitude would have left a very large impact crater. Even an object that was “basketball sized” would be at the high end of possible for those observations. The shooting stars that you see occasionally are on the order of the size of a pea. > > Stranger Not my judgment Boyo. I have no basis of knowledge. Must rely on what people with knowledge say. Astrophysicists at Iowa State and U of Iowa are reported in papers and radio and TV news say was bigger than your run of the mill meteorite and was anywhere from basketball to VW size but they say they can’t say for sure until they have a chance to see the fragments. That this was the report is a fact. That the report was factual in beyond my ken. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/17 "2010-04-18T20:19:26Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > A meteor that was “the size of a VW Bug” at that altitude would have left a very large impact crater. . > > Stranger Depends. Was it iron and stayed in one piece until it hit the ground? Or was it a more fluffy material and pieces broke off here and there in the upper atmosphere? Recall not too long ago there was a space shuttle sized thing that broke up in the upper atmosphere over the southwestern united states and narry a crater was created. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/18 "2010-04-19T02:15:27Z")
My fault. I thought I was responding to Boyo Jim. I now see that the relevant post was by Stranger on a Train. No dismissive nickname intended. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/19 "2010-04-19T20:16:21Z")
I’m not sure the reporting on CNN is entirely accurate… > [@](#): > > The fireball was visible for about 15 **minutes** beginning about 10 p.m., said the National Weather Service in Sullivan, Wisconsin, just west of Milwaukee. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292/20 "2010-04-19T20:31:08Z")
> [@Spavined\_Gelding](#): > > A hot-shot at one of the state universities is reported to have said that it was anywhere from basketball size to the size of a VW Bug. That berth describes about 98% of what’s in my house. I’ve been seeing a lot more shooting stars lately for some reason. Never seen anything that lit up the sky like that one though. Wonder if some Meteorite Men up that way are in early stages of tracking down any remnants. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fireball-in-the-sky-over-the-midwest/536292.md?page=2)