Researcher suggests that predawn spectacle over California and Nevada last week was a 'small flaming comet'

More evidence for the "electic universe" theory that comets are not icy rocks that light up the closer they get to the sun, but solid rocks that light up only when hit by solar energy bursts.  That means that, like asteroids, we may not see a comet approaching until it's literally in the atmosphere.

 

Henry K. Lee
SFGate

The fireball that lit up the predawn Northern California sky last week was a small comet that flamed out when it hit the Earth's atmosphere, a researcher said Tuesday.

The comet "instantly turned into dust and gas," resulting in the flash of light seen by many at 5:21 a.m. Thursday, said meteor hunter Peter Jenniskens, a scientist at the Seti Institute in Mountain View.

Because the comet vaporized, no pieces fell to Earth, Jenniskens said.

The comet came into contact with the Earth's atmosphere just north of Yosemite National Park at a speed of 160,000 mph, Jenniskens said.

"Moving toward Lake Tahoe, the small comet then penetrated to lower elevations where it fully disrupted in the atmosphere," Jenniskens wrote on his group's website.

The sight was a treat for those up and about before dawn. One witness said it resembled "a giant orange crayon."

Reports of the sighting came in from around California and from outside Reno.

It was the second cosmic sighting in the Bay Area in three months. On Oct. 17, a monster fireball lit up the skies, and several chunks of it - meteorites - were later found in the Novato area