[AZ-Observing] Re: meteorite photographed hitting Earth

This page shows the unlabeled photo:
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11483286%5E13762,00.html
 
I can make out the flash at the top of the light pole, and a dark streak 
leading to the light pole from the upper left, but the photo is too low-res to 
see much detail.  I'm EXTREMELY doubtful this is a photograph of a meteorite 
impact -- the odds of a meteorite hitting the top of a pole, and a photograph 
being taken at the same instant, are (ahem) astronomical.  I'm especially 
skeptical anytime a photographer says "I didn't notice it when I was taking the 
picture, I only saw it when I got the pictures developed."  So there was no 
other corroboration on the scene -- didn't anybody else see or hear it?  If it 
was big enough to make a smoke trail and a bright flash, it would have made a 
loud bang -- you'd think the photographer would have seen and/or heard it at 
the time.  There are plenty of more mundane explanations for the photo.  For 
instance, the flash could easily be a reflection of the sun, which appears to 
be behind the clouds at the top of the frame.
 
Of course, maybe I'm just jealous I didn't take the photo myself!
 
--Joe Orman
 
Joe Orman's Photo Pages:
http://pages.prodigy.net/pam.orman/JoeGallery.html

Christine Shupla <shuplac@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Someone shared this on another listserve and I thought some of you would be 
interested in it; I haven't fact-checked it or confirmed the source 

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11483286%255E13762,00.html





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