Meteorite Alert: NASA Indicates Cleveland as Potential Impact Zone

NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office has issued an alert for Cleveland area residents to look out for meteorites.

These small meteorites are believed to have been created by a bright fireball that was detected by all-sky cameras from the Southern Ontario Meteor Network on Aug.8, 2011.

There is high confidence that this meteor produced meteorites. The deep atmospheric penetration of this fireball combined with its deceleration and doppler radar echo strongly suggests a fall somewhere in the countryside east of Clevelend, Spaceweather.com quoted Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office stating.

Apart from Cleveland, local Doppler Radar has also captured echoes in areas like Kinsman, Hermitage, and Pymatuning Lake area. Hence, NASA has also issued a debris alert in these areas.

Spaceweather.com has also provided a map to help meteorite hunters look for the possible impact locations.

Cooke also mentioned that there could be even space rocks on the ground waiting to be found. However, he clarified that the fireball is not a Perseid meteor shower as it was moving very slowly unlike the latter.

Normally meteors burn up 40 to 50 miles (about 65 to 80 kilometers) over your head. This one got down to 38 km (24 miles) before we lost track of it, and we know it went lower, Cooke furthers stated.

A major difference between meteors and meteorites is that while the former reaches only Earth's surface to produce fireballs, the latter actually reaches Earth's surface as fragments.