"Today I ..." read this and it reminded of something qool I witnessed last Saturday night, ironically enough not long into the "Transformers" movie that was on TV at the time.
LSCP and I were home for the evening in York and somewhere between 8.30pm and 9.00pm I had to go back out to the car to get my other spectacles.
While changing them I took a pause to admire the night sky to the South.
Just as I did, I heard what sounded to me like a commercial plane flying over (they usually fly either to the South or North of York but sometimes directly overhead ... perhaps all the solar lights I have attract 'em by night and the 32 foot boat with a 7 metre wide "manta" shaped shade-house next to it attracts 'em by day. lol) but louder than is normal.
Trouble was, for all the noise I couldn't see a plane. No flashing red/green lights heading over, no landing lights.
Then a Very Bright and Long Lasting "shooting star" lit up and traveled across the sky from about 70 degrees to 30 degrees, North to South before burning out much brighter than it started and its firey trail taking at least 5 seconds.
The plane sound noise actually ceased (rather than fade ... and it didn't fade in either ... it was just suddenly on then suddenly off. strange) before the "shooting star" lit up, mind you, and one would always expect light to be arrive sooner than sound.
Presuming the two were related, it seems to me that the falling lump of whatever got to create a rumbling roar before it started lighting up enough to be seen and, because it could be heard in such a way, it must have been falling pretty close to the town of York.
I've seen/heard better though.
Back in around 1993 when on a 10 day voyage crewing the tall ship STS Leeuwin I was semi-snoozing on nightwatch on a calm and clear night somewhere between Onslow and Port Hedland.
It was the kind of night where the starry sky was beautifully mirrored in the tranquil waters we quietly sailed upon and it Was Good to be able to relax on watch again for only a few days before we were days into being miserably and dangerously caught in a storm off Onslow that saw us going nowhere for days, with gear damaged, engines continually trying to keep us pointing the right way, and near everyone ill.
I was awakened from my slumber by others on Green Watch excitedly making oohs-and-aahs and I opened my eyes and bounded to my feet in time to see a massive ball of fire slowly pin-wheel low from the Northern horizon to the Southern horizon and all the while making a low rumbling roaring sound similar to a commercial jet going by.
That one probably took a good 20 seconds to roll by.
I suppose commercial sailors see that sort of thing all the time and a lot more besides ... so much water out there compared to lit up land and all that.
Hmmmm, according to this link, February is a bit of a "fireball" season in the Northern Hemisphere anyway:
http://www.amsmeteors.org/2014/01/meteor-activity-outlook-for-february-1-7-2014/
Anyhoo, here is one that touched down on Mars late last year.
Oh, and last night I dreamed LSCP and I (and a whole crowd of fok) were caught in a meteor shower and a bunch of small ones missed us but then a big one landed offshore from us so we had to flee to higher ground 'cept I was in two minds whether to go back and grab my laptop wot I'd forgotten to take. I went and got it anyway as I thought it would come in handy for getting news on later, and we still managed to get to our boat (located on higher ground
) on time anyway.
Deem "Joel 2:28" included ... especially the bit about old guys dreaming.
Remember this one from last year ?
[youtubevid]kt8WTor1eZE[/youtubevid]
(some noisy stuff at around the 7 minute and a bit mark)
That's nothing to what is coming.
Are you ready ?
regarDS