Incoming Asteroid - Will Hit Earth Oct 7

[Bo]

ASTEROID IMPACT: If predictions were correct, asteroid 2008 TC3 hit Earth this morning (Oct. 7th at 0246 UT), exploding in the atmosphere over northern Sudan like a kiloton of TNT and creating a fireball as bright as a full Moon. Most of the 3-meter-wide asteroid would have vaporized in the atmosphere with only small pieces possibly reaching the ground as meteorites.

The following potentially confirming report comes from Jacob Kuiper, General Aviation meteorologist at the National Weather Service in the Netherlands: "Half an hour before the predicted impact of asteroid 2008 TC3, I informed an official of Air-France-KLM at Amsterdam airport about the possibility that crews of their airliners in the vicinity of impact would have a chance to see a fireball. And it was a success! I have received confirmation that a KLM airliner, roughly 750 nautical miles southwest of the predicted atmospheric impact position, has observed a short flash just before the expected impact time 0246 UTC. Because of the distance it was not a very large phenomenon, but still a confirmation that some bright meteor has been seen in the predicted direction. Projected on an infrared satellite-image of Meteosat-7 of 0300 UTC, I have indicated the position of the plane (+) and the predicted impact area in Sudan (0)."

_http://www.spaceweather.com/

 

[JonnyRadar]

another confirmation from the harvard-smithsonian center for astrophysics

_http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1071393/Asteroid-hits-Earth--Good-news-Scientists-predicted-Bad-News-Only-hours-burst-atmosphere.html

Asteroid hits Earth... Good news: Scientists predicted it. Bad News: Only six hours before it burst into our atmosphere

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:24 PM on 07th October 2008

Scientists were today celebrating the first successful prediction of an asteroid smashing into the Earth's atmosphere.

The chunk of space debris burst in a spectacular fireball though it was no more than 15ft across.

Although it didn't actually hit Earth, it had an impact out of all proportion to its size - because it enabled experts to prove they could warn of potentially catastrophic asteroid strikes.

'It's the first time we've been able to predict an impactor in advance,' said Donald Yeomans, manager of Nasa's Near Earth Object programme, which tracks asteroids and comets that come close to our planet.

Tim Spahr, head of Harvard's Minor Planet Centre, added: 'If this were something larger and it was going to hit the ground, we would be able to get people out of the way.'

The asteroid - labeled 2008 TC3 - was spotted yesterday a little farther away from Earth than the Moon by a U.S. observatory in Arizona.

It ploughed into the upper atmosphere above Sudan but could also be seen from Europe as it headed from west to east.

Astronomers were only able to give the world about six hours' notice because the rock was so dark and small.

The burn-up was just as astronomers had predicted. Any object entering the atmosphere heats the air in front of it, which in turn heats the hurtling object - and that spells disintegration for asteroids of TC3's size.

The asteroid created a large fireball at about 2.46am GMT, the team at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said.

Astronomers warning of the impending impact had been keen to emphasise that the strike would not be dangerous.

There are 5,681 such asteroids in near-Earth orbit, but only 757 of them are large enough to cause any damage if they hit the planet.

Rocks the size of TC3 hit Earth's atmosphere about two or three times a year without warning, Mr Yeomans said.

'A typical meteor comes from an object the size of a grain of sand,' said Gareth Williams of the Minor Planet Centre, adding that TC3 was 'a real humdinger in comparison'.

[bolding mine]

 

[Joe]

When I first saw this article on the main SOTT page, I was going to write a farewell note to you all (we are on the Red Sea coast; fairly north of Sudan if you're walking, but right underneath if you're up in the atmosphere).

Then I find from this thread that the event has been and gone, without any seeming repercussions.

Everything is normal here; people just walking about enjoying themselves. No-one seems to be talking about 'a flash of light in the sky' or 'percussion booms'.

So now we just wait for the drops to turn into a downpour?

I'd say that the significance of this event was not the small meteorite at all, but rather that an official agency claimed that they can now spot them in advance. There was no general public awareness of this small event, which was no different from the dozens of others over the past few years, so I don't think it can be called one of the "first few drops".

 

[Pierre]

Doesn't it sound like a damage control operation ?

Since some people start to get aware that asteroids and comets might be not as rare and as neglectable as previously believed, the PTB might want to send a no panic message :
1/ we are able to detect, track and forecast the trajectory of a small inoffensive meteorite
2/ those small inoffensive meteorites are very rare
3/ the dangerous ones are even rarer and since we can detect the small ones, detecting the big ones is a piece of cake.

So stop worrying, you can go back to sleep.

 

[Nienna]

Kinda reminds me of what I "saw" in that funky mirror session on 5 July 2001:

VB: Can you show Laura so she can describe to us, the catastrophic situation in our future, our near future?

Laura: It seems as though it will be a progression. Like the beginning of rain, when the first few big, cold drops fall; and then a pause followed by a few more drops; and then, a downpour.

VB: Describe what you are seeing?

Laura: I see rocks - but they aren't very large. They are like the size of your fist. Just a few. And they make something of a stir. An uproar. People will be excited... very upset. It looks like just two - two small rocks. And then nothing else happens for awhile, and then they forget about it. It all dies down. And then, a third, a fourth, a fifth and a sixth - and maybe even a seventh... isolated events, or so it seems. Still small. And then, a big one. All this will go on over a period of months.

The "size of the fist" rocks have already come, I think, recorded in the SOTT meteor blog. I guess this is one of the bigger ones being described as "the size of a car."

Can we have a chorus of "Showers From Heaven"?

Could this also be interpreted as "sheets of rain"?

 

[JonnyRadar]

some more interesting info regarding this, though not 2008 TC3 specifically, from the harvard-smithsonian center for astrophysics, some animations of near earth objects. a description from the site: _http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/Animations/Animations.html

Here are links to a number of animations prepared by the maintainer of this website. They are not intended as rigorous depictions of the past and future motions of the objects concerned (although at the scales of these diagrams, any difference would probably not be noticeable), rather they are intended to assist in understanding the state of knowledge about the contents of the solar system ("A picture is worth a thousand words").

despite not being "rigorous depictions of past and future motions of the objects concerned", this comparison (below) kind of took me aback. i supposed one could make a case that we can detect more and more objects, so therefore the map will appear more populated, but as a layman and non-astronomer, these are pretty incredible:

near earth objects recorded as of july 31, 2002, and NEOs recorded as of july 1, 2008

 

[Joe]

Like SOTT has been saying for about 5 years now, there have been literally hundreds of these things encountering the earth in recent years, so yesterday's was NOT new or amazing or scary. The ONLY difference is that they claim that this was the first one that they ID'd in advance, which is probably horseshit. Still, why would they want to make that claim public?

 

[dant]

Like SOTT has been saying for about 5 years now, there have
been literally hundreds of these things encountering the earth
in recent years, so yesterday's was NOT new or amazing or scary.
The ONLY difference is that they claim that this was the first one
that they ID'd in advance, which is probably horseshit. Still, why
would they want to make that claim public?

Ok, I'll bite.

Transmariginal Inhibition?

I.E. to condition the population by pre-announcing each "strike",
slowly, but steadily, and in increasing in frequency so that:

(1) the population believes the authorities are "keeping track
of these space objects", "taking care of it", on their behalf as
if to induce a "calming" or "boring (I heard it many times)" in
effect, putting the population back to sleep.

(2) Armed and ready, authorities "pull the trigger" of
mass-hysteria, at the last moment, in order to cause
controlled-chaos perhaps towards a specific outcome?

Hmm... "Saved by Space-Brothers" comes to mind... :D

That's my $0.02, which is not worth much in today's
credit market.

FWIW,
Dan

 

[bedower]

There was no general public awareness of this small event, which was no different from the dozens of others over the past few years

You may be right, Perceval, although you might have a different perspective if you were standing more or less beneath an 'incoming', as it were. Just an observation. ;)

Our night sky is beautifully clear, with a sharply-delineated quarter moon and the usual glut of brilliant stars, although the wind is blowing from the north which is normal. Were I to do a straw poll of the people milling about on the main strip, I think the question most asked would be; "What comet?"

So what happened to the debris of this comet? There must have been something. Has there been no feedback from the Sudanese media?

BTW, those graphics are really impressive, JohnnyRadar, even if they did play havoc with the page scroller.

 

[anart]

There was no general public awareness of this small event, which was no different from the dozens of others over the past few years

You may be right, Perceval, although you might have a different perspective if you were standing more or less beneath an 'incoming', as it were. Just an observation. ;)

Our night sky is beautifully clear, with a sharply-delineated quarter moon and the usual glut of brilliant stars, although the wind is blowing from the north which is normal. Were I to do a straw poll of the people milling about on the main strip, I think the question most asked would be; "What comet?"

Just to clarify, it was an asteroid, not a comet. Also, the fact that you state that most of the people milling on the strip would ask, 'what [asteroid]?' indicates that Perceval is correct. Even those 'standing beneath an incoming' had no general awareness. Unless I've misunderstood you, of course, and if so, apologies.

 

[Vulcan59]

Well after so many hours after this event, nothing in terms of photographs. There is a discussion going on here here but basically nothing apart from a sighting from a KLM pilot and another pilot from over Europe.

 

[bedower]

Anart,

Thank you for the correction; 'comet' was just sloppy writing on my part; apologies are due from me.

Funny thing - I've been re-reading some of 'The Wave' and 'Grail' chapters and the next chapter on the list was 'Pathway to the Light Pole Shift', where I found this;

As we understand things from the Cassiopaeans, there will be "signs" in the heavens sometime around the year 2003 accompanied by the final steps in the institution of social controls. There is even a possibility of a few scattered minor asteroid impacts that will create a lot of turmoil and excitement and fear. But all of this will settle down under the reassurances of the social control system, and all will seem normal in the solar system.

Coincidence? Hummm!


What I said about 'standing under an incoming' was referring the the people of Northern Sudan, who might have had a different 'take' on whether the asteroid was anything to worry about or not, assuming they had known about it; it was not my intention to imply that Perceval was wrong in his observation.

 

[mkrnhr]

Here is a picture taken by meteosat, a weather satellite of the blast :

A blast for 8/8/8 (October being the eighth's month)

 

[Ruth]

Here is a picture taken by meteosat, a weather satellite of the blast :
_http://spaceweather.com/swpod2008/08oct08/meteosat.gif

A blast for 8/8/8 (October being the eighth's month)

Interesting website, but what happened to August being the 8th month? :O

 

[mkrnhr]

Interesting website, but what happened to August being the 8th month? :O

It is just a light reference to the Latin names of the months (in the early roman calendar the year began in March). July was Quintiis (5), August was Sextilis (6), and actually September means seventh (sept is 7 in french as an example), October means eighth (octo is suffix for eight like in octopus or octagon or even octet), November means ninth (neuf is nine in french as an example), and December means thenth (like in decimal or decimeter). Sorry for the digression though .