Safe Harbor Update

Jul.29 2009

by Mike Hankey, under Mason Dixon Meteor

I went out to the Safe Harbor Dam again today and met with the facilities manager. He didn’t want his name mentioned so we will just call him Bob. I picked up the video on DVD Saturday and Bob wasn’t there as he started his vacation that Friday. He emailed me today and said if I brought a thumb drive with me he could give me a better quality video. I met him at the dam at 6:00 PM and we talked about the video, where the cameras were and what he thought the meteor path would have been based on his knowledge of the plant and video. I was way off on my original observations and subsequent conclusions. When I first viewed the video and surveyed the site, I believed the cameras were in certain places when in reality they were in totally different places. So Bob helped me out big time understanding the layout of the dam and the path this meteor took when it passed by. He also came into the office while he was on his vacation and worked with me for over an hour. Thanks so much Bob!

Here is the video. I have edited the footage to include slow motion view, images of the site and the line of site and meteor path projections map. Watch the whole thing, the best images are at the end.

Important note about time in video (1:04:45): I talked to Bob about the clocks in his videos and asked if they were on time. He was adamant that the clocks were perfect time as this is required because they are a federal organization.

Here are the two full length un-edited videos. They are both about 1 minute long. Cam 1 event happens about halfway through. Cam 2 event happens in the beginning.

Cam 1 Full Length Highest Res Possible

Cam 2 Full Length Highest Res Possible

For easy reference here are some of the pictures used in the video:

Safe Harbor cam 1 top view

Safe Harbor cam 1 top side view

Camera 2 Line of Site View

Camera 2 opposing view

Click Picture Below For Bing Maps View

Safe Harbor camera line of site and estimated (best guess) meteor path

Check out Microsoft’s Bing for bird’s eye views of Safe Harbor. Bing Maps is so money. The satellite images are much higher quality and more current than any other earth software out there. Plus birds eye view is SICK!

Click Picture Below For Bing Maps birds eye view

A lot of other stuff has happened today. I have much to report from the field dealing with crazy angry people to pleasant helpful Amish farmers. I also have lots of news from the NASA source but I have to keep that under wraps for a little while still (sorry). Its late, I will post again tomorrow.

:field report, Meteor Update, quarryville, safe harbor, trajectory, Video

1 Comment for this entry

mike antonelli
July 30th, 2009 on 7:50 am
Hello Mike, i know you are busy in the field, and may not have time to respond, but I am most curious about the crazy angry people you have run into. I too was in the srea doing eye-witness interviews, getting camera angles, setting up lines of sight, and so on and so forth…And, being a PA resident, I really want to hear about your experiences, and would be willing to share some of mine as well. Like I mentioned, I spent a good two weeks trying to track down anything that may have touched down, and am just wanting to stay in the know, mostly referring to the residents and their attitudes toward how things are going…We really didnt run into any negative experiences at all, and am very curious as to the local’s outlook on things. I left town thinking that either it will be found by a farmer when he pulls his crops, or it is in the very thick woods, that wont really be navicable til late fall-early winter. But I do intend on returning at some point, depending on how things are looking…I am not trying to gain access to your info, Im just interested in the attitudes of the people in the area, and really want to hear about the “crazy angry” thing ! If you would like to clue me in, my number is XXX-XXX-XXXX, or my email is [DELETED]. I would love to speak to you, being as how we were in the area pounding hard for two weeks, and didnt run into anyone else workin the field…I was hoping to, but it just wasnt happening…The only other hunters I spoke with at the time were the armchair guys, but I really wanted to speak with anyone who was (is) out there doing the same as we were !–taken enough of your time, any response would be most welcome ! Happy hunting ! Sincerely, Mike Antonelli