Monday, February 16, 2009
By Tommy Witherspoon
Tribune-Herald staff writer
The sky wasn’t falling, and there wasn’t an earthquake. No rockets were tested in McGregor, and the space shuttle is fine.
The cause of the 11 a.m. display many Central Texans reported feeling, hearing and seeing remained unclear late Sunday. But at least one federal official shot down earlier speculation that debris from two colliding satellites was to blame.
Law enforcement dispatchers across Central Texas fielded calls from concerned residents who reported seeing fireballs in the sky and hearing sonic booms or explosions that rattled their windows.
McLennan County Sheriff’s Office chief pilot Stu Royle flew a path from West, Leroy, Axtell, Riesel to Mart for about two hours after calls started coming in about the unusual occurrence, Chief Deputy Randy Plemons said. Royle saw nothing out of the ordinary, he said.
Sunday afternoon, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Roland Herwig says officials suspected the debris could be related to the collision but that it had not been confirmed. In later report, Herwig said the FAA did not know what caused the ruckus.
The U.S. Strategic Command said there was no connection to the sightings over Texas and Tuesday’s collision of satellites from the U.S. and Russia.
“There is no correlation between the debris from that collision and those reports of re-entry,” said Maj. Regina Winchester, with STRATCOM.
In the Tuesday collision, over Siberia in Russia, a 1,200-pound American Iridium communications satellite collided with a probably nonfunctional Russian satellite, officials said.
Plemons said law enforcement agencies began getting calls midday Sunday from West residents, then people from Leroy, Axtell, Riesel and Mart. A deputy who works in that part of the county did not find any such debris, he said.
Brian Vanicek, 49, said he and his 14-year-old son saw what he described as a “fireball” at 10:58 a.m. Sunday while traveling northwest on Farm-to-Market Road 485 near the Bell-Milam county line. Vanicek said the streak of light was to the north, in the direction of Waco or beyond.
“We just happened to look in that direction, and at first it looked like a falling star,” Vanicek said. “But then it flared and got really big — I guess that’s what some people might describe as a fireball.”
What appeared to be a vapor trail remained visible for about 10 minutes until the father and son arrived home near Zabcikville, he said.
The National Weather Service, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sent out warnings last week to pilots and others that reported explosions and resulting vibrations are actually sonic booms caused by the pieces of falling satellite debris.
A similar incident occurred Friday night around Jackson, Ky., with police inundated with calls about explosions, flashes of light and even earthquakes that officials said appeared to be falling debris from the two satellites.
Officials from New Mexico to Houston reported calls about the Sunday morning incident.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
twitherspoon@wacotrib.com
757-5737
Comments
By Nicole Y
Feb 18, 2009 9:58 PM | Link to this
I didnt hear or see anything. That sucks!
By Pat Branch
Feb 17, 2009 9:13 AM | Link to this
We have a group of meteor observers that would like some reports from the Aquilla and Laguna Park areas. I calculated from radar tracks any meteorites would have landed within a mile or two from Smith's Bend. If anyone has eyewitness reports from that area it would helpeful.
By Kahuna
Feb 16, 2009 9:03 PM | Link to this
It was no meteor! WE ARE BEING INVADED BY SPACE TRAVELING ILLEGAL ALIENS! As far as the rumble I hear the gas from intergalactic refried beans can cause killer gas. People chill out, our planet gets hit by thousands of meteors DAILY. Some large some small. Most burn up before they hit the ground. Just because one hits in Texas does not mean it's a cover-up, or anything else. PLLLLease
By Jason
Feb 16, 2009 3:27 PM | Link to this
31.65 N 97.01 W
1.6 miles NE of Hwy 31/84 split
Loud explosion followed by rumbling for a least 5-6 more seconds.
Puffy cylindrical smoke cloud due north from above position in sky with a spiral like tail headed down like secondary debris falling from a primary object.
From the orientation of the cloud the primary object appeared to be traveling in a slightly north west to south east direction.
By Jess
Feb 16, 2009 2:13 PM | Link to this
While I live in Mt. Calm, I was in Waco when the disturbance occurred, and many people who live near our home began to call us to find out what had happened. My husband said it sounded like they had described what is called a "Sonic boom", planes that move through the air faster than sound cause the air to divide then crash to the ground and cause these similiar effects. We arrived home yesterday and so far we haven't seen or heard anything out of the ordinary.
By Yvonne
Feb 16, 2009 2:13 PM | Link to this
My husband & I live between Perry & Marlin and we heard it also. It shook every window in our home and scared all the animals. Surely our government can tell us more about what this was. IT WAS SURELY NOT OUR IMAGINATIONS RUNNING WILD!
By Carolyn
Feb 16, 2009 1:21 PM | Link to this
My husband and I were in the living room drinking coffee when I heard a loud boom. I asked my husband what that was, he went out side to look. I heard another boom and went outside and the cattle across the road were running. Something scared them. We didn't see anything but did hear it. It was really strange. We live outside of West.
By I was in Church
Feb 16, 2009 10:49 AM | Link to this
I heard nothing but praise music between 11 - 12.
Wish you guys could have heard what I heard Sunday morning.
I invite each of you to church next Sunday. Its a safe place to be if the sky is falling.
By Tatzanx
Feb 16, 2009 10:09 AM | Link to this
This tiny little grey man with no hair told me it was pigs in space that collided with a deep space deep fryer, resulting in a terrific explosion of hog fat and fryer grease, which formed the tremendous fireball that everyone saw.
By Tatzanx
Feb 16, 2009 10:08 AM | Link to this
A kid in a trailor park named Stuart told be he heard from a burrow owl that it was aliens. But this tiny little grey man with no hair told me it was pigs in space that collided with a deep space deep fryer, resulting in a terrific explosion of hog fat and fryer grease, which formed the tremendous fireball that everyone saw.
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