Did anyone else see that meteorite tonight? Around Town, posted by landels parent, a resident of the Jackson Park neighborhood, on Nov 7, 2009 at 10:48 pm landels parent is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online
We saw what might be a meteorite coming down tonight around 5:30 / 6:00 and are trying to figure out what it was. It was so bright and appeared to land on our side of the mountains. Saw it from Shoreline Park. Did anyone else see it or know anything about it?
Posted by Phillip, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, on Nov 8, 2009 at 2:05 am
Are you sure it wasn't just a firefly?
When viewed from a good angle, and against a dark background, a glowing firefly may be indistinguishable from something bright in the sky.. The valley is very bright, and most meteors (meteorites are the remnants found on the surface of the earth, if any) are bright enough.
Posted by judielaine, a resident of the North Whisman neighborhood, on Nov 8, 2009 at 7:28 am
I'd be more impressed if Margaret saw a firefly in November in Silicon Valley!
I've certainly seen meteors unexpected in the dawn sky as well as watched showers out near Shoreline Park, so i don't discount that Margaret could have seen a meteor.
Twitter seems like a good place to hunt this down, and lo, others saw it Margaret.
Posted by Phil, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Nov 9, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Yes, I saw it. I was at el camino and charleston/arrastradero. It looked like a huge sparkler. Unfortunately there were some trees in front of me which obscured my view.
Posted by Jeff, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Nov 9, 2009 at 3:30 pm
I saw it clearly from vicinty of Calderon/Dana and from its trajectory, great speed, faint trail and flaring, and sudden flameout I was sure it was a meteor - unusually bright and rather long-lasting.
I can't imagine mistaking a firefly (if there were any around here) for a meteor.
Posted by Craig, a resident of another community, on Nov 10, 2009 at 6:37 am
Yes, I saw it while driving south on San Antonio Road, and had a good view. The glowing meteor stopped just short of the ground (presumably vaporized at that point), and left a visible trail in the sky. From my position, it appeared to come at a very steep angle, perhaps 20 degrees off vertical.
Posted by Graham Poor, a resident of the Whisman Station neighborhood, on Nov 10, 2009 at 11:02 am
Saw it from Shore Line Park, looked like it was over Los Altos, but can't be sure, but definitely between us and the mountains. smoke trail lingered for minutes, Others there saw it too. Looked greenish, saw some clips on youtube of daytime meteors, looked the same. If someone finds it (if it didn't all burn up) it's worth some money!
Posted by Wayne, a resident of another community, on Nov 11, 2009 at 2:19 pm
I saw a fireball near Willows in Glenn County. I thought it actually hit ground west of town. It was a large slow moving fireball. At first I thought it may be a plane crashing. But after reading about the Taurids meteor shower happening at that very time, I know know it was a meteorite. It was awesome!
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