I once saw a fantastic meteor streak by directly overhead, and I could swear I heard a crackling or hissing sound as it passed. This was late in 1998. It might have been during the Leonid shower in November of 1998.
Newbie
I once saw a fantastic meteor streak by directly overhead, and I could swear I heard a crackling or hissing sound as it passed. This was late in 1998. It might have been during the Leonid shower in November of 1998.
Order of Kilopi
Welcome to BAUT Forum.
Others have reported similar.Originally Posted by kal007
Wikipedia: Meteor :: Sound
Society for Popular Astronomy: Fireball ObservingNumerous people have over the years reported sounds being heard while bright meteors flared overhead. This would seem impossible, given the relatively slow speed of sound. Any sound generated by a meteor in the upper atmosphere, such as a sonic boom, should not be heard until many seconds after the meteor disappeared. However, in certain instances, for example during the Leonid meteor shower of 2001, several people reported sounds described as "crackling", "swishing", or "hissing" occurring at the same instant as a meteor flare. Similar sounds have also been reported during intense displays of Earth's auroras.
Noises may occur associated with some brighter fireballs. Sometimes these occur simultaneously with the meteor's flight, and are typically described as hissing, whooshing or crackling, though others have been reported. Although long dismissed as illusionary, a tiny number of these electrophonic sounds have been tape recorded, so some are genuine. They are probably due to very low frequency radio waves being detected audibly by some unknown mechanism. More common, but still very rare, are noises heard some tens of seconds to a few minutes after the fireball has ended, usually rumblings or bangs. These are due to acoustic shock waves passing through the atmosphere, often caused by severe detonation events in the fireball's flight. In either case, note down what you heard, and what the approximate delay was between your seeing the meteor and hearing the sounds.
Established Member
From 01101001 wiki link:
It seems significant for you to mention your (approximate) geographic location during the event if you may.Sound recordings made under controlled conditions in Mongolia in 1998 by a team led by Slaven Garaj, a physicist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne, support the contention that the sounds are real.
BTW welcome aboard.
Order of Kilopi
I saw a meteor in 1992, between Utica, NY and Rochester on the I-90. It was in the maybe October or November. It recall hearing a ripping sound, but considering I was a passenger in a car, I doubt that the sound was real. The meteor was white, with green and orange balls of light rolling back from the front along the bottom. It seemed to be traveling east to west. I lost sight of it fairly quickly, as our driver whom was also watching it tried to park on the median.
I do know that videos made it on TV that evening, but for some reason there was no color to those images.
Is there anyway of identifying what I saw?
Solfe
Order of Kilopi
kal007...hey..welcome to BAUT.
why the 'kal 007'?
Established Member
Metor sound in a car could have been radio noise. Travels a bit faster than sound waves!
See: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal...1811610a0.html
John
Newbie
Thank you all for the replies.
I was in Durango, Mexico at the time.
I chose this username years ago when I was reading about Korean Air Lines flight 007, which was shot down by Soviet jet interceptors in 1983.
Order of Kilopi
Thanks, yes I realise that. But why? the choice i mean...
Established Member
There was at least a note about this in Sky and Telescope some years ago, with respect to auroras. Their specualtion was some type of rf, as I recall.
Order of Kilopi
Doubtful, I think. If you can't find an archived news or personal story with a Web search, you'll probably not learn any more about what it was.
Some institutions collect reports of large meteors, among them:
American Meteor Society Fireball Monitoring
International Meteor Organization Fireball Reports (1993-1996, not back far enough, no longer maintained?)
They're not so rare. The bigger the more rare. Google hits for "fireball" (not all meteors, I'm sure) are around 12 million. Location and time would pare that down a lot, but would require some luck to get a correct hit, too, especially for location.
Wait. 1992? Could it have been the famous Peekskill bolide of October 9, 1992? That was a big one.
Order of Kilopi
I was going to guess that it was a psycho-sensory illusion; we're use to hearing crackling when we see fire, so we imagine we hear it. Seems like for a long time that's what others though too. But also seems like there's evidence to suggest that it's possible to actually hear things, though their not quite sure what is being "heard". Interesting.
Established Member
An old acquaintance, Dr Colin Keay, has studied this phenomenon for some years.
I believe he thinks that the meteor emits radio waves that induce a sound in appropriate media.
Order of Kilopi
That seems to be a sort of consensus, just because the sound is heard as the object is seen. Fleet photons seem to be involved.
I like the AMS hint in their FAQ, which surely begs more study:
Back in the '80s, I suppose there were lots more reports of sizzling fireballs.Additionally, those with a large amount of hair seem to have a better chance of hearing these sounds.
Come to think of it, since I went short, I haven't heard a single fireball crackle.
Order of Kilopi
rains on a new 'scope, innit?
Newbie
I don't know, it was a long time ago. I got used to typing it, and it became sort of my default username to use on forums and such.
I actually heard the crackling, hissing sound before I saw the meteor, probably because I was standing inside a small courtyard.
Established Member
Maye this one ? Would be great
http://tin.er.usgs.gov/meteor/index....=no&code=18782
Order of Kilopi
That's the outstanding question. We haven't heard if it fits.
Banned
This reminds me of the time I once saw a fantastic meteorical streak pass by directly overhead, and I could swear I heard a crackling or hissing sound as it passed. But mine was back in 1977, and it was while I was emptying the trash. My cat chased the neighbor's cat off our roof and onto our wood fence, immediately behind which sat our trash cans.
I've only seen one meteor that was larger than pinpoint streak. It was back in the mid-80's, and was heading East. Large, slow-moving, orange, firery ball. No crackling or hissing, though.
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