The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1911-07-21
WHERE DID THE METEOR FALLr
The Visitor From Star Land Fright
ened Many 5ehoIders and Appear
ed Nearer Than II Was

ened Many BehoIders and Appear
ed Nearer Than II Was
Discussing the meteor the Starke
Telegraph says:
The meteor, which was seen by
some in this section and the ex-
plosion of which was heard by all on
the morning of July 4th, must have
been of prodigious size. The Tele-
graphs astronomical reporter thought
the Phenomenon was OF sufficient i'm
portance to refer to it's again, and has
eagerly scanned the exchanges from
towns within a radius of so miles
from Starke TO find out as much about
it as possible.
The meteor exploded net far from
Meirosa. in a southEesterly direc-
ton from that town. 1t was seen
only within radius of about 30 miles
from where it fell. Accounts from
different places give different direc-
tions of its path, but it amy be safely
assumed that it fell perpendicularly
to the earth. Even at Gainesville,
which is at least II miles from where
it fell, it's falling was accompanied by
great roar. which shook windows,
roar from the falling and the thunder
of the explosion merged into one ter
rife noise and then only q small
gray cloud was seen high up in the
heaven. No damage from fallen frag-
ments has been reported
The meteor is variously described,
but although it fell in full daylight
all agree that it was exceedingly
bright. A woman in the northwest
ern portion of Marion county descrlD-
es it as large as a -four barrel with
a tail 40 Yards long" Wherever the
roar accompanying its falling was
heard, it was thought to be the fore
runner of an earthquake,and the more
superstitious thought the end of the
world had come. At lumber camp
near Campville, where about fifty
laborers were engaged at their work
in the woods, the men were attracted
by a noise like thunder, and on look
ing I'D to discover the cause, beheld
the beteor passing quite close to the
earth. In addition to the blood-curd-
ling noise which emanated from 1t,
large clouds of smoke could be seen.
The men, unable to understand the
queer visitation, fed to the camp and
absolutely refused to return to WORK
that day.
Scientists now generally agree that
meteors, or shooting stars, are rag
ments of comets which come within
the earth's attraction. The great
speed developed in falling causes
such a friction against the air that
thew become white hot. Meteorites,
as thev are termed after they reach
the earth. are common enough any
where. and in places they have fallen
so thickly as to be utilized as iron ore.
No meteorite has yet been found that
contains any substance not found on
the earth They contain mostly iron
and nickel ore.
The meteor was the biggest piece
of fire works seen on any Fourth OF
July. and even the cannon cracker
had to take a back seat. 1t is prob
able, however, that those who We're
near it considered it neither safe"
nor sane"
Mr.. Miller, who lives near Reddick,
and was once a policeman of this city,
declares most positively that the me-
teor looked as if it fell in his field, so
much so that he and some members
of his family made search for it,
Messrs. Gibson and Smoak of
Irvine, were in our office few days
ago, and they said that they saw
the visitor from star land very
distinctly and that it appeared to
them as if it must have fallen in the
northern part of Orange Lake. That
it made loud, rumbling noise the
same as a train of cars running at
high rate of speed.
Having been seen in an area COW
ering so many miles it must have
been of tremendous size and had it
not fallen into the lake it must have
been discovered before this time.