FEBRUARY "DIVINE WRATH" ’S METEORS
THE CHELYABINSK METEOR OF 15 FEBRUARY 2013,
THE 11 TOYOHICHO METEORS OF 19 FEBRUARY 1964,
AND THE MADRID METEOR OF 10 FEBRUARY 1896.
On February 19, 1964, at 7:15 p.m., by night, Mr.Mizushima
was at the bus stop "Tyokoguchi" (TOYOHICHO, Onomichi, Hiroshima
Prefecture, Japan). He saw needlelike orange glaring objects between the
buildings. First, three objects, then two (3 to 4 seconds afterward), three,
two, and one at last (a total of 11 meteors). Read the serious report from my
colleague Amamiya Kiyoshi, a known pioneer ufologist, in Japanese UFOs files
No. 4.
The CHELYABINSK meteor is thought to be the biggest natural
space object to enter Earth's atmosphere since the 1908 Tunguska event. The
radiant of the impacting Chelyabinsk asteroid was located in the constellation
Pegasus in the Northern hemisphere, the asteroid belonged to the Apollo group
of near-Earth asteroids.
A small number of panic-related injuries occurred during the
MADRID meteor event of 10 February 1896: "On Monday, February 10th, at 9h
29min 30sec, there was observed an instanteous bluish-white illumination in the
atmosphere, so strong and vivid as to be visible in the inner rooms and in the
open air. The day was a magnificent one; blue sky, no wind and a radiant sun.
Soon after there was plainly visible near the zenith and some few degrees to
the SE, a white spot, like smoke, bearing NE to SW of about 6 degrees in length
and 1 degree in width; its form was semicircular with the convexity turned to
the east. In the centre and near the apex of the curve, it presented a
condensation of a reddish colour, similar to that of clouds at sunset. The
general appearance of the spot was that of a cirro-cumulus. At 9h 30min 40sec
there was heard a deep and very strong detonation, accompanied by many others
not so intense, similiar to the noise produced by a large cannonball rolling
along the upper storey of a house. This noise was very prolonged; it was found
to last two minutes. Meanwhile the vibration of windows and partitions (not the
thick walls) was extraordinary and the rattling of panes of glass alarming. In
some houses all the window-panes were broken. Judging from the time which
elapsed between the light and the sound of the first detonation, the meteor
exploded in the air at a distance not less than 24km (15 miles) and this number
is evidently too low. Considering the aspect of the spot of smoke, it seems
probable that the meteor proceeded from the SE towards the NW and near the
zenith of Madrid it exploded. Changed into smoke and dust, totally or
partially, this smoke was carried away the upper currents of the atmosphere to
the east. We find here a splendid confirmation of the theory which supposes
that at the upper limits of the air, the wind moves from west to east. The
cloud continued its course to the ENE, dissolving gradually away and at 3pm it
was still perfectly visible like a light cirrus in the east some 20 degrees above
the horizon. The compression of the atmosphere at the instant of the
conflagration was indicated by the registering barometers. In the aneroids, the
trace is small but the mercurial one shows that the column rose 1.6mm and
lowered 0.7mm, the amplitude of the total oscillation being 2.3mm. In the
neighbourhood of Madrid, some fragments of the meteorite fell and I have
obtained one of them. Externally the fragment is of a black metallic aspect;
inside it is of white stony appearance, with somebrillaint points like nickel;
it weighs 6.3mm grams. From information received later, it appears that the
phenomenon was visible in a large part of the Peninsula from Sierra de Estrella
(Portugal) on the Mediterrnean coast and from Segovia to Aguilas or a distance
of 700kms from E to W and 400kms from N to S." (Augusto Arcimis, Director
of the Observatory). It is interesting to note, as a testimony to THE ETERNAL
NATURE OF POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS, that the lower orders of Madrid are stated to
have regarded Monday's meteor as " SIGNIFICANT OF THE DIVINE WRATH"
(SIC). Therefore, THE 11 TOYOHICHO OBJECTS OF 19 FEBRUARY 1964 WERE NOT UFOS,
ONLY 11 METEORS.
Report on the bolide that exploded over Madrid on the 10th
of February 1896
THE MADRID METEOR.
