What Went "BOOM" Over South Carolina?

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Exploding UFO Wakes Thousands in SC (Video)

Story by Tom Rose
Originally posted 2/14/2012

A streaking flash of blue light, what many witnesses are calling a UFO, burst over the midnight skies of South Carolina early on Monday morning. What was it? No one really knows, but the object, caught on tape, has astronomers trying to allay fears in a nervous public.

The unidentified flying object was caught on a home security cam, reflected in the window of a parked car, and a nighttime sky camera which showed the UFO blasting through the sky trailed by a flashing tail.

Local astronomers were immediately consulted and tried to allay public fears by saying the OVNI was probably a comet or meteorite, even though such celestial phenomenon are usually well-known and expected by the time an object of this size burns up in the atmosphere.

Still, one local resident, interviewed by the local FOX affiliate in the video below, admits she was scared and wondered for just a moment if it was "aliens" attacking.

Here's the video:




Video Link

What do you think? Why weren't scientists aware this UFO was streaking through the sky beforehand? Is it a comet or meteorite?

 Source

[Note:  Would it still be so "delightful" if the unexpected object had hit a home, killing the occupants? -SW]

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Loud Explosion, Lights In Sky Over Upstate Investigated

Local Astronomer Suspects It May Have Been A Meteor

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The National Weather Service and emergency dispatchers from across the Upstate say they got numerous calls overnight from people who heard a loud explosion that was followed by lights streaking across the sky.NWS staffers said they got a call from Greenville police around 2 a.m. They said after they started getting calls, they checked the security camera at the National Weather Service and saw a faint, barely recognizable flash of light at 1:42 a.m.

A NWS representative told News 4 it may have been a meteor, but that his agency does not investigate these events.NASA would be the source to confirm meteor activity. The agency has not yet returned a call to News 4.In Spartanburg County alone, dispatchers took about 75 calls, and reports are coming in from as far away as Lexington, N.C. and Carrollton, Ga.Firefighters with the Reidville fire department in Spartanburg County witnessed the light show first hand. They told News 4 it happened at about 1:55 a.m..Retired astronomer Doug Gegen did not see the light in the sky, but he said based on what he is hearing from everybody, it sounds like it was an unusual meteor."People saw a lot of lights in the sky, but what does that mean really? Well, it means that probably there was some kind of thing happening that was out of the ordinary," said Gegen.Gegen said the event was different than annual meteor showers such as the Leonids, which peak every November.

Source

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Cleveland County worker witnesses reported meteor explosion

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Chuck Jones awoke when he felt his house shake early Monday. The sound of a boom followed a tremor that shook his house around 1:30 a.m.

Jones, who works at Putnam Distributors in Patterson Springs, assumed the noise came from workers at a nearby rock quarry.

Jones said his brother called him around noon Monday. Quarry workers weren’t responsible for the tremors that rocked Jones’ home.

A meteor, which some experts say exploded, possibly did.

“I’ve watched meteors before on the science channel, but not here in South Carolina,” Jones mentioned.

Scientific experts are saying a meteor exploded above upstate South Carolina, causing the loud boom. Multiple media outlets reported residents seeing a bright flash of blue-white light at the same time. Locals took to Facebook, recounting the loud boom and describing the bright light.

No known injuries or damage had been reported as of Monday afternoon.

 “I didn’t see the light,” Jones said. “But the boom sounded like the crack of thunder.”

Phone calls to scientists and astronomical groups Monday weren’t returned in time for this story.

Jones admits he was shocked when his brother told him about the meteor explosion.

“I’ve watched meteors before on the science channel, but not here in South Carolina,” he said. “I’ve lived in Blacksburg for 54 years.”

Source


[Note: A little too close for comfort?-SW]

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