DEEP IMPACT.....

SEATTLE - A meteor about the size of a computer monitor lit up the Northwest sky early Thursday morning, setting off sharp booms that stunned witnesses.

Â?There was some question as to whether it was a piece of space junk burning up, but it was not,Â? said Geoff Chester, a spokesman for the Naval Observatory. Â?People always want to know, was it something we put up there coming down again? As far as IÂ?ve been able to figure out, it was simply a rock falling out of the sky, as they are wont to do on occasion.Â?

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Chester said it was a type of meteor called a bolide, one which appears bright like a fireball in the sky.

Toby Smith, a University of Washington astronomy lecturer who specializes in meteorites, said scientists were looking into the cause of the skybursts reported over a wide area about 2:40 a.m.

"It certainly could be a meteor. They're extremely rare events," Smith told KING 5 News. "To my knowledge, I don't think anyone's ever seen one fall in Washington state that's made it all the way to the ground."

An earlier report on KIRO Radio that a meteorite might have hit near Chehalis, about 30 miles south of Olympia, turned out to be false, said Smith.

Nothing unusual was detected on National Weather Service radar, and authorities also ruled out aircraft problems or military flight tests.

Smith said once a meteor hits the Earth's atmosphere, it's considered a meteorite.

Â?But until you get the pieces and determined that theyÂ?re actually a meteorite, thereÂ?s really not much reasonable you can say,Â? said Smith.

Witnesses along a 60-mile swath of the sound from near Tacoma to Whidbey Island and as far away as Coeur dÂ?Alene, Idaho, 260 miles to the east, said the sky lit up brilliantly. Many reported booming sounds as if from one or more explosions.

At Whidbey Island, Petty Officer Andrew Davis said he and other saw the skyburst.

"It made a pretty big bang," Davis said. "We thought it could maybe be a meteorite or something."

Civilian pilots reported seeing the flash from Ellensburg, east of the Cascade Range, said an FAA duty officer who did not give her name.


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Needless to say it was an exciting night. I had gotten up to pee, and check my blood sugar, and I was reading to get back to sleep, when the whole world exploded! It was right over my head, and sizzled, and crackled and then boomed away towards the Casdades. I jumped out of bed and ran into the Living room and Tim was already looking out the window. I said I think it was thunder, and he said there isnt a f------ cloud in the sky? the moon was out and fully bright . Dogs and neighbors were now up looking out doors and windows.

My first thought was an atomic bomb. If I had seen the light I would have really freaked!! it sounded just like the thunder in the desert that forms right over your head, and just as the hairs on your arm start standing up....BANG ! and sizzle sizzle! Phyllis called about that time, so I picked up the phone and just said I dont know. She called Dispatch and they assumed it was a meteor or an earthquake. I didnt even think of meteors!!! I had the scanner on and about 15 minutes later two deputies said they thought it was a meteor also.

I swear the thing landed in my back yard! I have never heard a meteor sizzle like that. Weird, but exciting too. My Brother who lives two blocks away was sitting in his hot tub counting the shooting stars and saw the whole thing and saw it break up into pieces. He said he had just prayed, when BAM! I think he had some of that good BC BUD if you ask me. who the heck sits in their hot tub at 245 in the morning? sober? I think not.

I expect more on this after all of the astronomers get through sorting their data. I will keep you all posted!!

Oh by the way CALGARY WON TONITE!!! In OT!! ROCK ON!!