Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-08-10
Council Bluffs
Meteor Causes
Astronomers to
Talk of the Air
Strange Sunday Visitor Said to Have
Been Bolide Which Glanced Off
from Earths Atmosphere,

ECnOeS from the
caused by the enormous boiide that passed
over here Sunday afternoon continue to
come in. territory more than 100 miles
wide and several hundred miles long felt
the disturbance at the same moment. and
the reports that have been gathered in
dictate that the violence of the conclusion
was about equal all along the central Hhe
Of flight The course Of the meteor was
from the southeast to the northwest, ano
from the fact that the jar was felt as far
as Atlantic on the east and Fremont, NED.
on the west, and from these extreme poihts
the conclusion seemed to come from a point
high In the sky, indicates that the aero
lite was Of such huge proportions ana was
moving with such great velocity that its
impact was enormous, when II dasheo INTO
the thin atmosphere at great altitude In
fact the angle at which the vibrations
struck the earth indicates that the dis
! turbance could not have been nearer than
fifty miles above the surface, and the
apparent flatness of the angle OF contact
may have permitted the flying missile
only to strike a glancing blow on the at
mosphere and continue its flight In the
space.
At Nicola, twenty-five miles east of Coun-
ell Bluffs, the jar caused poorly propped
windows to fall At Malvern dishes were
ratified and clock pendulums sent humping
against the cases. Rev. Henry DeLong was
at West Liberty, holding religious services
and the conclusion startled the congrega-
ton and made the building culver. the
SEINE reports came from Hamburg, twenty
five miles south, and Magnolia, thlrty-five
miles north.
A Council Bluffs man, who has continued
his scientific studies after leaving college
nm Nv, etr
pronounced the Earring sound to be the
crash of meteor against the upper air.
The meteor was one OF the billions OF
wanderers throughout space and was large
enough to be admitted into the bohde
class" said he. II DO not believe 1t struck
the earth, for the reports appear to indl-
cate that the origin Of the sound was ris-
ling as the reverberation died away 1t
was certainly an enormous mass, travelling
with a velocity of at least forty miles q
second. or 2,400 miles a minute, more than
1000 times faster than a KrSS rifle bullet.
II is even possible to determine its weight
and dimensions, although 1t may now be
several million miles away from the earth.
The heaviest bolide that ever came into
contact with the earth's atmosphere OF
which we have any record was reported In
August 1915, and the disturbance was quite
similar to this and affected q territory OF
LOCO miles in extent, extending westward
from Massachusetts. A number of years
after an Amherst astronomer collected the
data establishing the angle the vibrations
reached the earth and thus fixed its alti-
tude, and with this and colncident data
determined its weight and velocity. His
, computations showed 1t TO have beer
twenty-five miles In diameter and It's speed
nearly fifty miles second. II 1t had hi
the earth 1t would have penetrated hun.
dreds of miles and made a hole more thar
twenty-five miles wide., from which ! tn.
molten interior of the earth would have
gushed, destroying thousands OF miles o,
/ the American continents surface.
The aerolites are very heavy composed
Of iron and nickel of almost the same pro
portions of the Carnegie armor plate
, Most of the meteors are very small-mer,
corpuscles. They have been. flying through
space for untold billions OF years and be
! come visible TO us only when they com,
. into contact without atmosphere, wheI
t their energy of motion is instantly trans
S formed into heat and we see a brillIan
E flash. If It were not for our protectln,
r atmosphere there would be more casualtie
r from meteoric stones than any other on
thing.
r Amy sharp-eyed observer will find tina
: he can see on an average twenty meteor
an hour on any clear night. 1t is est
: mated that $500 tons of meteoric matte
falls upon the earth each twenty-fou
a hours. The meteorlc phenomena will b
!" very brilliant for the next few days. Tn
earth is just beginning its annual passaE
! through the orbit of a broken-up come
and on August II will be in the thickes
4 part Of 1t. II the sky is free from cloud
and the atmosphere clear Friday night
: very brilliant display may be expected. an
9 just before daylight almost in the propor
,, lions Of shower. The August meteor
: are often heavier but not SO numerou
as the November swarm. when the cart
!. goes through the remnants Of BIela'
a comet"