Meteors

All around the world, people are encouraged by various groups to report fireballs and meteors by various officials, and pilots are asked to do the same through ATS facilities. These reports, to ATC, are so unimportant to us (overall) that it's a good thing fireballs are not often visible, or at least not often reported. Having said that, I have taken my fair share of reports of fireballs over the 13 years I've been in ATC.

This post, while it has little to do with Aviation in Canada, was sparked by what I saw yesterday afternoon: My first daytime fireball. It appeared where I happened to be looking when I was playing with my kids. No sound, but a brilliant yellow with the odd flash of white while it fell, leaving a rapidly dissipating "train" or smoke trail. I've seen many over the years at various times through the night, but this was the first I saw during daylight hours. Since I knew that someone was always looking for reports, I decided I'd try to find somewhere on the internet to send a report, and a quick Google search revealed the name of a man at the University of New Brunswick who had such an interest. There. I've done my good deed for someone today.