Norsk meteornettverk

On 17th June 2012 Anders Helstrup was skydiving using his wingsuit. In one of the jumps something very unexpected happened, and his two helmet mounted camera confirmed it: A rock fell from the sky, just past Anders towards the ground. There was no one or nothing above him that could have dropped it. He contacted some geologists and meteorite experts, and an investigation was under way. The videos were analysed and the area was searched, but the only conclusive proof for a meteorite, the meteorite itself, was not found. We know that a few meteorites fall over populated areas on Earth every day, often unnoticed. Relatively slow fireballs may be fainter than the full moon and still drop meteorites, and they may be very hard to see in the glare of the sun or behind clouds. A sonic boom could be mistaken for thunder or human activity. Considered the many million cameras now in use worldwide, one is occasionally bound to capture something extremely unlikely. So however unlikely a near hit of a meteorite is, it is certainly a possibility. Due to its extreme low probability, it’s naturally the last pick of all the thinkable actual possibilities. A number of scenarios were considered, but all apparently failed to explain what is seen in the video. We were left with scenarios that we were unable to find possible solutions for against something that fits but is extremely improbable, though possible. We seemed to get no further, and we decided to go public with what we had and at the same time invite anyone to have a go at the puzzle. The story was announced here on the web pages of the Norwegian Meteor Network, where we expressed our hope that it would go viral and scrutinised for something that we might have missed, and the result was beyond our expectations.

Fortsett å lese «Fireballs vs. eyeballs»

NRK’s populærvitenskaplige program Schrödingers katt forteller i dag fallskjermhopperen Anders Helstrups fantastiske historie. Under et hopp over Østre Æra flyplass ved Rena den 17. juni 2012 skjer det noe helt usannsynlig: Like etter at han løser ut skjermen 1000 meter over bakken, suser en mørk stein i stor fart rett forbi. To hjelmkameraer dokumenterer det hele. Hvordan kan en stein komme til syne rett over Anders 1000 meter over bakken? Det er ingen over han, verken fly eller andre hoppere. Det er vanskelig å finne andre forklaringer enn den usannsynlige: en meteoritt har falt rett forbi.

(Foto: Anders Helstrup / Dark Flight, montasje: Hans Erik Foss Amundsen)
Fortsett å lese «Fallskjermhopper filmer fallende meteoritt»

Today the Norwegian broadcasting corporation NRK will air the popular science programme Schrödingers katt which features the incredible story of the skydiver Anders Helstrup. In a jump above Østre Æra airstrip near Rena in Norway on 17th June 2012 the totally improbable happens: Just after he deploys his parachute about 1000 metres above ground level a dark rock from above zips past him. His two action cameras document the incident. How can a rock suddenly appear this far above the ground? There is nobody above him, neither an airplane nor other jumpers. No other possible explanations seem to remain but the improbable: a meteorite just fell a few metres away.

(Photo: Anders Helstrup / Dark Flight, photomontage: Hans Erik Foss Amundsen)
Fortsett å lese «Skydiver films falling meteorite»