Sunday morning I went meteorite hunting in Intercourse, PA with two friends. A lot of the other meteorite hunters have told me they gave up on trying to find the PA fireball because the terrain is too difficult. After surveying the area, it really doesn’t seem that bad. Obviously not as easy as a desert, but thanks to the two new videos we found, the area I’m working with right now is really not that big.  Once the harvest comes, these fields will actually be pretty easy to search.

We setup base camp in a quaint town and the people we met and talked to were very nice and helpful. We tried to stay away from the farmers on this outing as Sunday is the Amish day of rest and we didn’t want to bother them on their holy day. We did speak with some locals who were very helpful. I learned the names of several farmers of interest and plan on returning later. We found a few meteor-wrongs, but unfortunately no meteorites. All the same, we had a great time, learned a lot about the area and will be much more prepared the next time we head out there. We also had some of the best food I’ve had in a while. Jackey’s Amish BBQ is banging! There are a lot of interesting places and people in this part of the country. Here are a few pictures from our adventures in Intercourse.

Intercourse News Aug 2, 2009

Where would you like to go today?

Best BBQ on the East Coast

Under Armour's new product line? (click to enlarge)

Largest dealer of panties in PA.

Mike at the Amish Haven August 2nd, 2009

I didn’t go out today (Saturday) because I really did not have good data. I’ve been working with some heavy hitters on the meteorite list and they have been busy analyzing the two new videos tapes that surfaced this week. I was emailing back and forth with them Friday night and Saturday morning. I didn’t want to go out today without a good location so I decided to work on my maps and trajectory information, rest and go shopping instead. I picked up some good new gear today. Some maps and hiking books, a hikers GPS (so money!), some insect repellent and a few other things.

Before I left to go shopping I got an email from Rob Matson that said he had completed his analysis and had the data I needed. I’ve got a pretty good location of the impact zone and I’m working on my strewn field map. I’m hoping Marc Fries will come through with an updated treasure map before I head out tomorrow. Thanks a million to both Rob and Marc, what they have been able to do and come up with literally blows my mind.

I’m not at liberty to release the precise information but they have encouraged me to publish a close proximity to where the meteorites are most likely to be found. The more people that are out there the better our chances of finding at least 1 rock. The first rock we find will lead us to others, so I really want as many people on the ground looking for these things as possible.

Tomorrows hot zone based on the very best information that is out there are: New Holland, Bareville, Intercourse and Bird-in-Hand PA.

August 2nd, 2009 Meteor Search Map (Click to enlarge)

I found a biking trail that is very near the bulls eye. There is definately a margin of error with the bulls eye so this biking trail looks like a very good place to search. It is a free and public place so you won’t have to deal with land owners. I highly recommend it. I have been told it is best to try to walk a north / south or south / north path. This will improve your chances of actually crossing the trajectory and thus recovering meteorites.

Special thanks to Alison Kruse for capturing this video, uploading it to youtube and sending me the information about the camera location. Alison this lead is HUGE and will greatly improve the chances of finding rocks on the ground.

Here is the Bing Map that shows the camera location and line of sight:

PA Fireball - Pittsburgh camera line of sight

Here is the lat/long of the camera: 40°32’16.45″N / 79°49’51.27″W

Here is a daytime picture from the vantage point where the camera originally was. Alison said the camera was pointing 1 tick south of south east on her key chain compass.

Daytime picture of camera's angle

Here is a re-post of the original video so all of the information is all on one page/post:

A friend tipped me off about this article that was published in The Aegis Hartford County MD newspaper. Thanks Kristan! Man I hope this is the real deal.

PA Fireball meteorite possible found July 29, 2009 Whiteford MD USA

UPDATE – FAIL

I sent this story out to the meteorite community. Within 15 minutes of pressing send on my email, I got about 20 replies that said there is no way this is a meteorite. Here is the best analysis I’ve seen so far from Eric at MeteoriteBlog.com. Thank Eric that is a pretty comprehensive analysis.

A new video of the PA Fireball has surfaced. That makes 3! The authenticity of this video has yet to be confirmed, but initial reports/analysis are looking positive.

Jupiter with halo July 29, 2009

The stars tonight were bright. The moon set early and some rain came briefly through and then it was perfect. I haven’t seen it this dark in a long while. Since this meteor thing started I’ve only used my scope two times.

Tonight I was reworking the meteor trajectory taking into consideration data from the new video tape and I took a break to go outside. The sky was so dark I could see the Milky Way plain as day. I decided to take a few tripod shots and enjoy the night a little.  The Milk Way shots didn’t quite work out but I got this one of Jupiter that is kind of cool. The halo around the planet is actually an optical anomaly caused I think by dew on my camera lens. Gives it an interesting effect.

As for the meteor, now that some analysis of the new tape has come in we believe we have located a new terminus for the meteor that is 1-2 miles north of the Safe Harbor dam. I have spoken to other meteorite hunters and reliable experts who believe there could be 40,000 grams of meteorite rock near the terminus point. Based on my picture and historical meteorite fall data several different experts believe there could be 3 10,000 gram rocks sitting in a corn field somewhere.

Quarryville July 28, 2009

Our NASA source analyzed the new video footage and told me he recalculated his trajectory based on the new data and his new terminus point is 20k west of his original location. We are working on a new strewn field map so that we can have a plan of attack this Saturday when we go out again. Prior to this new data the estimated strewn field was in Quarryville. When I was in Quarryville, I spoke to an Amish farmer who said his farm hand had witnessed the event and felt that it was so close he ducked down when it flew over. The boy claims to have seen the meteor crash into the ground. The boy’s location was 5 miles north of the Quarryville farm I was visiting. I haven’t calculated this account into my analysis yet, but with a quick eye up it looks possible.

Amish Tractor

I have reworked my line of site analysis of all locations and factored in the new Safe Harbor data. I believe my new trajectory and terminus point are better than they have ever been, its my best guess but it is still just a guess. I have some work to do on the meteor path before I publish it here, especially considering my last two guess were way wrong. With the new data and help I’m getting I’m feeling much better about this new projection. I have to do another lego shadow analysis before I can know for sure. I will post an updated map with meteor path and estimated terminus point tomorrow.

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.

I got my first email from NASA yesterday regarding the meteor search. OMG! (that’s all I can say for now.)

Safe Harbor Water Power Corp July 25, 2009

Earlier last week I was reviewing the estimated meteor path on google earth and noticed the Safe Harbor Dam & power plant was very close to the current trajectory. I wrote the dam and asked them to review their security tapes from that night. They were nice enough to review and found two tapes that captured a light flare at 1:04:45 AM. The manager copied the tapes for me and I picked them up yesterday. After viewing the tapes on sight I surveyed the dam and camera locations.

I do not have permission to publish the videos yet, but if you are interested in seeing them you can email me and I can send you the files privately. The videos do not show the main body, but they do show an awful lot of light and some distinct moving shadows that can be tracked for about 4-5 frames.

After reviewing the videos and site I have currently made the following conclusions based on this new information:1) the meteor flew very close to the Safe Harbor Water Power Corp 2) the meteor flew most likely on the southern side of the plant. 3) The meteor made it across the Susquehanna. 4) The meteor was visible for  3 1/2-4 seconds.

I believe if the right people look at the video and examine the shadows on the ground they will be able to make some conclusions about the location of the meteor at that moment and the direction it was traveling. If you want to review the video please leave me a comment or send me an email.

While I was at the dam I met up with Mike O’Neil and John Stevenson, two graduate students from John’s Hopkins who are working on the meteor search as part of a project with the applied physics department. Mike and John were incredibly helpful in surveying the power plant as well as providing lots of analysis and insight into the event, the trajectory and possible crash site. Many thanks to Mike and John, I look forward to reading your reports.

John and me at York Water Company (39 55.227N 76 44.854W)

After the Safe Harbor survey we decided to go back to the location of the first video tape — York Water Company. None of us had personally been there yet. We had access to the data from that site and were under the belief that the meteor was on a eastern trajectory from that point, but we all wanted to see the site first hand so we could get a better idea about where this thing was going.  I had the coordinates already so we plugged them into the GPS and headed over there. It took us a few minutes to locate the camera (its pretty sneaky). The camera is mounted under the silver electric box in the picture to the left, its the circle underneath. It took us a few minutes to figure that out but we had all remembered seeing that box posted in a previous picture and by looking at the site we eventually put two and two together.

John and Mike both work for a company that makes GPS devices and software so they are pretty knowledgeable about surveying sites and engineering in general. They explained to me the best way to determine the line of sight (LOS) and direction is to look for big objects on the ground and then find those objects in satalite photos like google earth or microsoft bing. Then use the NSEW directional markings in the satellite photo relative to the objects on the ground and not a compass, the sun or some other mechanism to evaluate the LOS direction.

York Water Company Camera Line Of Site (LOS)

As you can see in this picture, the camera is roughly parallel to the barbed wire security fence on the left. Prior to talking to John and Mike I was under the belief the meteor was traveling due east from the York County video (based on information from other sources) but was still having trouble accepting this, because I saw it in Freeland 20 miles south. This is what Mike wrote me today regarding the trajectory relative to York.

Possible meteor path across Safe Harbor

I took this picture on my last night in the Bahamas. I understand why they call it Paradise Island.

Bahamian Moon July 23, 2009

Quick update on the meteorite search. I have located 2 new security tapes that could be useful in the hunt. The tapes are not direct captures of the event, but they caught a bright light on the ground. I’m picking up the DVD tomorrow. I’m hoping I can determine the speed of the meteor at this location based on the number of seconds the light appears for. I should be able to determine relative direction as well. If there are shadows in the videos that could tell me even more. The most interesting thing about these videos is the location is very close to my estimated trajectory line. There are lots of hiking trails and public areas here so I will bring the metal detector and do a little hunting after I’ve reviewed the video and surveyed the site.

Steve Arnold was in Baltimore the day after the PA fireball was sighted. He contacted me through my website and wanted to examine the location where I took the photo of the fireball. In order to determine the trajectory he needed to know my latitude and longitude and the point of view of the scope at the time of the picture. He analyzed the position of the scope and concluded it was approximately 27 degrees above the horizon. While he was visiting they filmed a partial episode for the Meteorite Men TV show. He told me that if they or someone found the PA meteorites the show would air on the science channel.

Here are some pics from his visit:

Steve Arnold of Meteorite Men

Steve Arnold of Meteorite Men

Steve Arnold of Meteorite Men

Looking for meteorites is a fun and pretty easy thing to do. Its a great activity to do with friends or children. The hard part is deciding where to look. Here are some instructions on how to look for meteorites that Meteor Hunter Steve Arnold sent me:

Step 1. Look downward for black rocks
Step 2. Repeat

Obviously he was kidding a little, but that really is about it. I researched this a little and came up with a few more tips:

1) Walk in a straight line across the property and scan a 4 foot wide area. After you get experienced you can try and open up that area wider, but its best to start with a small field of view.
2) You are looking for smooth heavy black magnetic rocks, there are some earth rocks that are black so don’t get too excited when you find your first black rock (it could be nothing). The blackness of the rock is called a “Fusion Crust” it forms on the rock due to the heat and friction the meteor faces when it enters the atmosphere. Some earth rocks are magnetic too, so don’t let this throw you off. If you aren’t sure keep the rock anyway. You can have someone look at it later to let you know for sure. If its heavy, smooth, black and magnetic there is a good chance its a meteor.
3) Because meteorites contain metal they can rust, they are also magnetic.
4) Once you’ve found a black rock pick it up and test it with a magnet. If its black and magnetic you could be in luck. It will also be very heavy and denser than a normal rock.
5) don’t go on private property without permission. This is a good way to get shot! Instead look in free places, like parks, parking lots and the side of the road (be careful not to get hit by a car!)
6) Magnet on a string is a good trick. Buy some donut shaped magnets at Radio Shack. Tie a string around them. As your walking around you can move the magnet over the rocks on the ground. This will save you time and pain of bending over or reaching down hundreds of times. You can also nail the magnet to the end of a walking stick. Or tie multiple magnets to a broom stick, attach it to a vehicle and then drag it across the property. If you are searching a big farm this is probably the best bet.
7) If you can afford it a metal detector is a valuable asset for meteorite hunting… But its not mandatory. Lots of meteorite hunters just use their eyes.
8 ) A strewn field is the area around an impact zone. This is were the most amount of meteorite rocks will be. This is what we are looking for in PA. I have talked to a lot of hunters and they tell me because of its size the strewn field for the Mason Dixon Meteor could have hundreds of meteorites in it.
9) Rocks From Space — is the best book about meteorite hunting if you want to learn more about it: 1
10) The meteorites from the Mason Dixon meteor will be very valuable, simply because there is a lot of interest in this story, the terrain is very difficult to search and its an east coast meteor. All of these factors make the Mason Dixon meteorites very rare, which will cause them to be more valuable. I’m not an expert or an appraiser, but I think these rocks will go for at least $100 a piece. The first few could fetch as much as $1000 a piece.

Good luck. If you find any of the Mason Dixon meteorites make sure you contact me. I will pay more for these rocks that any other buyer out there!

This video is not REAL! Its just a simulation. A few nights after the meteor flew over I setup a CSI re-enactment of the event. I put my scope at the location where I believe the picture was taken the night before. I used a laser to pinpoint where in the sky my scope was pointing. (the accuracy of the position may be flawed, but this video is just meant to illustrate what it may have looked like.)

This is a simulation / best guess. Please if you are a meteor expert and have criticism of this simulation please send it to me so we can make improvements to the video.

Special thanks to Doctor Vincent Perlerin and his associates from Paris for analyzing the pictures and working on this video. Vincent you are the man!

I have been passing around this flier to churches, fire stations, police stations, gas stations, liquor stores, community centers and golf courses in the Wrightsville area of PA. If you want to download the PDF, print it out and pass it around please do so. Just tell people you work with Mike Hankey and are trying to raise awareness about the meteor. Its a great ice breaker when talking to locals.

PDF OF FLIER FOR LANDOWNERS AND RESIDENTS

This is a press release that Steve Arnold from the discovery/science channel just sent out on the local news contacts.

I talked to a police officer and an ambulance driver in wrightville yesterday. I think both of these people witnessed contact with the ground. The ambulance driver described it as “It was blue and then it changed colors. It was like when a transformer blows up.” The police office said he saw it thru his rear view mirror, but that it didn’t fly anywhere, “Just lit up and then went away”. Neither of these people heard the sonic boom, which suggests the object was going <600 MPH when they saw it. I’m going to be meeting them again at the exact location so we can determine directions and line of site. Both of these witnesses were within a couple miles of each other.

——–FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE———–

PA Meteor Bulls Eye Located
from Steve Arnold

NOTES:
Target area narrowed
Scientist uses photo and video to plot trajectory
“Blip” seen on Doppler Radar image
Call for locals to look for meteorites
What to look for
Steve Arnold has returned home to Arkansas but still is monitoring, and might return
Amateur astro-photographer Mike Hankey joins the search spear pointing efforts on the ground
Contact info at bottom

Details:
Using both the video footage from the York Water Company security videos and the still photo captured by Mike Hankey telescope in Freeland, Maryland, and field data gathered by professional meteorite hunter Steve Arnold, scientist Rob Matson has narrowed down the zone where fragments of the meteorite should be located.

The photo data helps us locate where the fireball burned out, but the meteorites would still be spread out over an area of probably 1 mile wide by 5 miles long, possibly even longer.  The angle of decent indicates the pieces might not be spread out too far.
The meteorite will carry a little further beyond the point the light phenomenon ceased, but this gives us a lot smaller target area to focus on.
The Susquehanna River cuts through the zone near Pequea.

Rob Matson, is space scientist/aerospace engineer specializing in simulation and modeling of infrared sensors and phenomenology. On the hobby (i.e. unpaid) side, I’m an amateur astronomer focused on the discovery of comets, asteroids and meteorites.  Located in Seal Beach, CA, Matson is available for interviews at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Matson states:  “My best estimate at the moment is that meteorites should be found somewhere in the region bounded by Pequea, Colemanville, Martic
Forge, Marticville, Holtwood, Bethesda (PA of course), and Rawlinsville. The west side of the Susquehanna isn’t ruled out, but I would strongly favor the east side.”

Locals in the area need to look down!  Odds are strongly in favor of notified locals finding pieces of the meteorite over the chances even professional meteorite hunters would have.  Walking the dog, mowing the grass, walking across parking lots, walking along the sides of the roads, local are encouraged to look for smooth, dark black rocks.  These rocks will be heavier than other rocks of their size, and should attract a strong magnet (not a weak refrigerator magnet).  They will NOT be porous like lave.  They should have rounded corners, often oblong, shaped like a potato.  They can be any size from pea sized to basketball sized or larger.  Fist sized or larger can punch a hole in the ground, but smaller ones will often dent the ground and sometimes bounce.   If there is a naturally broken face, those edges can be sharp, with the interior usually a light cement looking gray color.

Meteorites do not have any radiation, but oils on your hand could do some minor damage.  Ideally, picking it up should be done with a plastic baggy or a gloved hand, but the important thing is to get them pick them up. Any rocks with a black smooth surface, that are attracted by a magnet should be checked out by an expert. Once the first specimen is found, then determining where the others are will be much easier.

Hankey’s photo revealed at least 6 fragments, and there is a possibility for hundreds of stones if there was a late break up, as often is the case.

Arnold is encouraged that meteorites can and will be found. Meteorites belong to private property owners, so any would be hunters must get permission to hunt and remove anything before going on to private property to search. Any finds should be reported to Steve Arnold at www.MeteoriteMen.com any finds will be reported by Steve back to the media (if the media outlets want to sort through the good and bad leads, by all means they can direct their own reader/viewer to contact them directly on any possible find instead of Steve.)

This is a photochop to all you haters on the meteorite list!

Amateur Astro-Photographer Mike Hankey has become an amateur meteorite hunter.  “He has been bitten by the meteorite bug pretty hard”  commented Arnold.  “He has a passion to personally recover at least one of the rocks his camera captured, and I don’t think he is going to stop until he gets one.”
Hankey has printed up flyers and with Arnold and Matson’s new data, he is heading to the target zone today to help spread the word.
Arnold has returned to his home in Arkansas but is still actively fielding reports and working to get the word out to people in the area.  If any significant developments occur, Arnold will be back in the area soon to continue his work and filming for his TV show Meteorite Men on Science Channel.
Arnold is still interested in video footage of the fall from any security cameras in the area.  At this time, further eye witnessed reports are not needed.
Meteorite Men, co-staring Steve Arnold and his hunting partner Geoff Notkin of Tucson, AZ airs on Science Channel 4 times this week:  July 15, 16 and 17

Check listings here:
http://science.discovery.com/tv-schedules/series.html?paid=48.15725.126184.36729.1

Steve Arnold can be reached at meteorhntr@aol.com and  www.MeteoriteMen.com
Mike Hankey can be reached at mike@nerd.com and www.mikesastrophotos.com
Rob Matson can be reached at ROBERT.D.MATSON@saic.com