OT: COMET BALLS (warning, this is not a joke)

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I just wanted to ask a question. We have all seen the postings on the "ice balls" that have been falling in Spain and now in Italy, I believe. It seems that they are nearing the possibility that these may be from the tail of a comet.

Ok, so then you have that major meteorite hit that occurred in Canada in the last week.

Are we near a comet tail or something, you skywatchers?

Remember all the gloom and doom in the fall about something coming towards us? Most of those web sites have now disappeared, but I wonder what the current predictions are regarding what is going on in the heavens?

-- tt (cuddluppy@aol.com), January 27, 2000

Answers

Son of a gun...Now that you mention it! I do remember that we wer in clse relation ship with that comet..And I am eing serius here (really). We are going through it's comantary matter (the earth ia currently passinf through an area of space that it had gone through). I mustbe getting really seni.....er! I mean forgetful! (an yes! I know I left some polly bait in my posting's trail just then. But what the hay! Every one has to eat...Even if it is polly crackers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Shakey~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-- Shakey (in_a_bunker@forty.feet), January 27, 2000.


My bet would be aircraft sewage.

A chunk of ice/comet debris entering our atmosphere from space would not be likely to survive re-entry. Depending upon the initial size and velocity of the chunk, effects could range from unnoticeable evaporation to a meteor shower, to a Tunguska-class event. In any case, it is highly doubtful that you would be able to walk out into your yard and pick up a chunk of 'comet ice' that just fell to earth. (F=Ma)

-- Arnie Rimmer (Arnie_Rimmer@usa.net), January 27, 2000.


Son of a gun...Now that you mention it! I do remember that we were in close relationship (at this time) with that comet..And I am being serious here (really). We are going through it's cometary matter; debris (the earth ia currently passing through an area of space that it had gone through). I must be getting really seni.....er! I mean forgetful! (an yes! I know I left some polly bait in my posting's trail just then. But what the hay! Every one has to eat...Even if it is polly crackers

I just woke up to. And have not had my first cup of coffee either LOL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Shakey~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-- Shakey (in_a_bunker@forty.feet), January 27, 2000.


According to what I've read, the airlines deny that the stuff is "blue ice," & no urine/fecal matter has been found in them.

Besides which, real "blue ice" is VERY rare.

So... If anyone knows what this non-crap crap is, they're keeping their mouths shut.

-- watch out (it's@raining.shit), January 27, 2000.


Hi Arnie! The "sewage" in aircraft is held in a storage tank or tanks that can only be drained by opening a hatch, and hatch cover on the ground. One of those vehicles you may see around an aircraft parked at a gate is there to drain the "johns" and refill it with the blue fluid. There's no way to dump sewage in flight. I wonder what those ice balls in Europe are myself.

-- Glen Curtis (glenn@curtis.com), January 27, 2000.


Meteorite Myths Most meteorites are made of iron, right?

Well, yes and no. You see, most meteorites observed to fall are of the stone type. Observed falls of iron meteorites occur only about 4% of the time. However most meteorites that are found are irons because terrestrial weathering breaks down stones more rapidly than irons. In other words, stone meteorites do not survive as long on the Earth's surface as iron meteorites do (although weathering also eventually affects irons as well). When they land on the Earth, do meteorites always glow with heat from their passage through the Earth's atmosphere?

Actually, no. Although there is some controversy as to whether or not some meteorites are warm to the tough when they fall, most meteorites are cool when they land on the Earth's surface. They travel so fast through the Earth's atmosphere that the heat produced during entry is ablated away, much the same way that the tiles on the underside of the space shuttle (and heat shields on prior space capsules) protect the shuttle. In fact, the aerodynamic shape of oriented meteorites was the inspiration for the blunt heat shield design of the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo space capsules.

Meteorites have been in space for a long time, therefore they are are radioactive, right?

No, meteorites are not radioactive. There is more danger of radioactivity from fallen space vehicle debris than there is from meteorites.

-- Powder (Powder47keg@aol.com), January 27, 2000.


OOPS.

Here's the gist of my post...

When they land on the Earth, do meteorites always glow with heat from their passage through the Earth's atmosphere?

Actually, no. Although there is some controversy as to whether or not some meteorites are warm to the tough when they fall, most meteorites are cool when they land on the Earth's surface. They travel so fast through the Earth's atmosphere that the heat produced during entry is ablated away, much the same way that the tiles on the underside of the space shuttle (and heat shields on prior space capsules) protect the shuttle. In fact, the aerodynamic shape of oriented meteorites was the inspiration for the blunt heat shield design of the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo space capsules.

-- Powder (Powder47keg@aol.com), January 27, 2000.


Glen: I guess I was assuming a malfunction aircraft sewage system. (After all, we've been told that nothing works as expected in Italy:)

Also: Is there any documented evidence anywhere of primordial ice (i.e ice from space) surviving a fall to earth? Can you point me to a museum where such a chunk of ice is preserved? I'm no expert in this field but I've never heard of it.

There's a professor at the University of Iowa (can't remember his name) who's stirred up some controversy the past few years with his theory that the earth is struck much more frequently by comet debris than what the mainstream sciences accept. I seem to recall that there is even some satellite evidence to back up his hypothesis.

-- Arnie Rimmer (Arnie_Rimmer@usa.net), January 27, 2000.


Hi All,

The ice block falls in Spain, Italy, Brazil and China over the past two weeks are almost pure water, with few contaminants, according to the reports I've heard and read (sorry, no specific references -- this is from memory).

The largest block, from China, weighed 400 pounds.

The investigators haven't a clue as to their origin, and have definitely ruled out aircraft as the source. The problem is that in almost all cases, the sky was clear when the chunks fell (those that were observed to fall).

Because of the size of the chunks, speculation as to their origin runs from them being generated in the upper atmosphere, unlikely due to the lack of moisture there, or somehow coming in from space.

But space origin is also unlikely, as these chunks would have to, somehow, enter the Earth's atmosphere slowly enough to not "burn up" by floating down. IOW, they'd need an anti-gravity ability that hasn't been a known characteristic of ice.

All clues so far point to an origin in the lower atmosphere (50,000 feet or lower) -- but there's no place where they could originate. Also, the distribution is specific to certain areas and doesn't have a world-wide coverage.

It's a real mystery.

-- Dean -- from (almost) Duh Moyn (dtmiller@midiowa.net), January 27, 2000.


400 #s !!

-- ouch (cold@noggin.bump), January 27, 2000.


Time to get out those Charles Fort books you were saving for a rainy day?

-- Firemouse (firemouse@fcmail.com), January 27, 2000.

Crop circle ice chunks ?

-- snooze button (alarmclock_2000@yahoo.com), January 27, 2000.

Wasn't there a fishing boat sunk on the east coast last spring supposidly by rocks from the sky. Seems like 400lbs of ice would be capible of the same thing.

-- (freeman@interx.net), January 27, 2000.

Damn... First chemtrails, now big ice booggers.

What the hell is going on here...?

-- It ain't right (I@tell.yuh), January 27, 2000.


Dean:

Just because an ice fall is of a given diameter on earth doesn't mean it was that diameter when entering the atmosphere.

I mean, to pick up a 6inch diameter ice fall and say that it could not have come from space because a 6 inch diameter meteor would have disappeared, assumes that the object can't ever be larger then its current size to begin with. I know we all like to be empirical about these things but that's a little out of sight.

This phenomena seems to me either meteoric or the new fad prank. If it is cometary, then in all likelyhood far more material is *completely* evaporating before it hits ground. I'm a Theist [not Deist!] myself. But from some perspectives, this could provide the originating mechanism for terrestial water. By design, I'm sure.8-)

-- tim phronesia (phronesia@webtv.net), January 27, 2000.



The ice balls have been examined by geologists in Spain and they are not from outer space, nor are they sewege from a passenger jet. They have mineral content that suggests they are not from a passing comet, etc. Some have hit objects, like a car in Spain. Most of them are in the 20-30 pound range and do not break when they hit the ground. ???

-- paul leblanc (bronyaur@gis.net), January 27, 2000.

I don't know how to post a direct link, but here is an article relating to earth crossing a comet tail around the third week of jan.

http://www.millenngroup.com/repository/cometary/machholz2.html

-- observing (skyisfalling@heavens.com), January 27, 2000.


Space Balls?

-- JB (noway@jose.com), January 27, 2000.

A few years back, we had a flock of geese land in our pond. The pond quick froze from a temperature drop during the night, freezing their legs fast. Next morning the geese all flew away taking the whole pond with them.....

-- grannyclampett (don'thave@clue.com), January 27, 2000.

Ok.. I'm game :-)

A few years back, something came thru and left a bunch of water in it's trail... it just so happened that it formed into a "ring system" around the sun that was earth crossing,basically "in the same orbit", and had time to form Trojan points.

Now if one of those Trojan points was going the same direction we were, at the same time so that everything worked out to a "zero sum" as far as closing speeds with the surface of the Earth are concerned.....naaaaa....

I'd rather think someone converted a "spud gun" :-)

-- Netghost (ng@no.yr), January 27, 2000.


Has anyone studied these balls to see if they have a currently earth normal level of tritium? It is my understanding that all the water on the earth now has tritium in it from the nuclear explosions in the last 60 or so years. There was a story somewhere of a cave that they decided had no contact with the outside world ecause it showed no signs of tritium, so it had no influx in the past 60 years.

If the core of the ice ball has no tritium, we can pretty safely assume non-earthly origin.

-- tree (thetrees@bigfoot.com), January 27, 2000.


Hey did you guys say Comet's balls fell off?

-- Santa (Claus@northpole.com), January 28, 2000.

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