Investigation of a bright flying object over Northwest Spain, 1994 January 18
Abstract
On the early morning of January 18, 1994, a very bright luminous object crossed the sky of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. From visual sightings it is concluded not to have been a meteoric fireball (bolide). A surface "crater" in Cando (close to Santiago) with dimensions 29 x 13 m and 1.5 m deep was later discovered within 1 km of the projected "impact" point of the luminous object. At this site, in addition to the topsoil, full-grown pine trees more than 20 meters high were thrown downhill over a nearby road, leaving the down-slope edge of the "crater" untouched and with a steep interior wall (this would not be the case if a regular landslide were responsible for the transport). Standing trees below the "crater" showed embedded soil and plant residues up to heights over 3 m. No strange materials (meteorites or artifacts) were recovered in or close to the "crater"; all materials belonged to the place and were not shocked; thus, an impact is very improbable. A possible explanation capable of reconciling all of the observations is presented. It hypothesizes an eruption of earth-gases to create the crater, with the rising gas plume then interacting with atmospheric electricity to produce the propagating fireball that was observed.
- Publication:
-
Meteoritics and Planetary Science
- Pub Date:
- January 1998
- DOI:
- 10.1111/j.1945-5100.1998.tb01607.x
- Bibcode:
- 1998M&PS...33...57D