Explosion in Southern Indianapolis...possible meteor fragment??

[LQB]

What does it take to turn a 2,700-square-foot home into a bomb large enough to flatten two other houses, pummel dozens more, rattle dishes for miles and set off earthquake sensors 30 miles away?

But it doesn't knock the yellowing leaves off a little tree a few feet away? That's not natural, a blast like what they're describing should have blown that tree almost bare, if not knocked it down. The branches aren't even bowed like they were in a wind.

So what totally destroys inorganic matter, but doesn't appear to touch the organic stuff right next to it?

A weapon system of some kind gone off autonomously by mistake?

 

[Guardian]

A weapon system of some kind gone off autonomously by mistake?

Or the whole thing is some kind of elaborate set-up, and they forgot the trees?

I looked at a bunch of photos, and except for a few trees right next to the fire that appeared to be partially burned, the rest of the trees look totally normal. Considering the time of year, they should have at least been blown bare, with piles of leaves on the ground. They should have shed branches in a blast like that too, but I don't see any in the photos I looked at?

There's little trees, about 6-10 inches around that are still standing, in perfect condition, right next to a leveled house? The more I look at the pictures, the more I wonder if the whole thing isn't staged for some reason?

I'd also like to know where the guy in the left part of this picture got his indestructible privacy fence? A decent sized pit bull can knock slats out of a ordinary privacy fence?

 

[Laura]

Could it have been gas seeping up from the ground, settling low in the house (maybe due to seismic activity) and then ignited by something, like the automatic ignition of a gas water heater or furnace in a basement?

 

[Guardian]

How would this tree possibly survive, much less still have dead leaves hanging on it?

 

[1984]

How would this tree possibly survive, much less still have dead leaves hanging on it?

Good point - OTOH, we have seen pics of trees, big and small, standing next to rows of flattened houses damaged by tornadoes too.

 

[Guardian]

How would this tree possibly survive, much less still have dead leaves hanging on it?

Good point - OTOH, we have seen pics of trees, big and small, standing next to rows of flattened houses damaged by tornadoes too.

I've never seen one with the leaves left on it? Of course that doesn't mean they don't exist, but I've seen a lot of trees after a lot of storms, and there's at least a LOT of leaves on the ground.

Look at the grassy areas in the photos, no piles of leaves, branches, etc. not what you'd expect to see after a high wind, on in this case, a blast?

 

[Gimpy]

How would this tree possibly survive, much less still have dead leaves hanging on it?

Its one detail among several that doesn't make sense. If you look at the 'blast area', it appears the actual blast center was between the two flattened homes, not centered in one or the other? Or am I seeing things that are not there?

So far, all the evidence that is available points to a gas explosion caused by furnace tampering...that is the direction its going, but there's nothing solid to prove it, even without the weird number elements.

 

[ggen]

I wondered about the surviving trees from the get go. I just discounted the fact because some trees survive the craziest of disasters. Fwiw, the couple who died, Jennifer and John Longworth, were married 11 years.

12 O'Clock MSM is leaning towards a gas leak as cause. The majority of the segment was interviewing homeowners that were all having their furnace's checked, 'just in case'. Have to ramp the 'Fear' factor up apparently. Seems possible they have an idea of actual cause and are starting the spin.

 

[Guardian]

This is an image of a house that was destroyed by a EF-5 tornado, and the tree next to it. As you can see, all the leaves are gone, and this occurred in May, so the leaves were still alive. This is always what the trees I've seen after a seriously destructive storm have looked like. Either they are bare, or close to it, or they're down, or at least partially leaning.

I don't see how anything powerful enough to demolish a house would not at least take the leaves off a tree next to it? I wonder if sound could do that?

"On May 22, 2011, an EF-5 tornado destroyed much of Joplin, Missouri, killing more than 140."

 

[Guardian]

Same super trees, different angle, and I'm really impressed with how quickly they got the road spotless, without anything in the gutters indicating the road had been cleaned.

 

[Guardian]

This is an interesting picture of a very limited amount of debris in the road

This is a very interesting shot of super fence, not a board out of place, but the house behind it is trashed.

I want one of those brown fences, it might actually stand up to the goats. As you can see, the back part of the grey fence next door is knocked down, but not the brown fence. Yet the house behind it is considered totaled.

 

[Thomas Alan]

Same super trees, different angle, and I'm really impressed with how quickly they got the road spotless, without anything in the gutters indicating the road had been cleaned.

Or at least why didn't the dry leaves on the trees catch fire like the houses did that were very near?

Mac

 

[ggen]

In looking at the pictures again, and viewing comments here, it's obvious more debris is behind the destroyed houses (backyards) than in the front. I would say four times as much. If the blast occurred in the front part of one of the houses, wouldn't it only make sense that the trajectory of the debris would BE towards the rear yards? That might also explain why the trees in front seem unscathed. Thinking about it, in a tornado, there's winds sustained at at over 100+ mph. With 10 seconds or more of those type of winds, it's understandable to see new leaves ripped from trees. OTOH, if the blast was only a second or two, and possibly 'blew' towards the rear of the home, it seems possible that the trees in front might survive. We did have wind advisories posted in the Sandy aftermath. There were two days where winds were sustained at 15-20mph with gusts up to 50mph. Those trees obviously stood through those winds. Maybe the trees are a new hybrid for cookie cutter housing additions?

 

[Guardian]

In looking at the pictures again, and viewing comments here, it's obvious more debris is behind the destroyed houses (backyards) than in the front. I would say four times as much. If the blast occurred in the front part of one of the houses, wouldn't it only make sense that the trajectory of the debris would BE towards the rear yards? That might also explain why the trees in front seem unscathed.

Yup, except that the houses across the street, BEHIND the trees, have supposedly been totaled too.
According to this interactive map, the houses directly behind the trees (in orange) are so badly damaged they will have to be demolished

_http://www.wthitv.com/

 

[Foxx]

I want one of those brown fences, it might actually stand up to the goats. As you can see, the back part of the grey fence next door is knocked down, but not the brown fence. Yet the house behind it is considered totaled.

I think it's interesting too that the cars near those trees don't appear to have sustained any notable damage, even though it looks like they didn't arrive after the explosion and are rather close to the explosion. Comparing them to the damage of the house where there's a lot of debris, it looks like they came out completely unscathed, to me.

I wonder if this explosion was abnormally linear (non-spherical) considering the locations with the most damage and the dispersal of the debris.

Or at least why didn't the dry leaves on the trees catch fire like the houses did that were very near?

This was another thing that I was thinking about too--they certainly look close enough that they definitely should have caught fire.