FOND DU LAC COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – When a meteor streaked across the sky earlier this week, it disappeared almost as fast as it appeared.
So what happened to it?
One Fond du Lac County family says it may have found a piece of the meteor on its property.
Since a bright fireball streaked across Monday morning’s dark sky, there’s been some incredible videos capturing it.
But footage from Tina Goebel in Dotyville is even more unique.
On security footage, right after a big flash of light, there appears to be some debris falling onto Goebel’s property.
“We were pretty shocked, and we realized we might have something out there”
Sure enough, Goebel and her husband found what looks to be a piece of the meteor.
They sent it to UW Madison to be examined further.
John Valley, a Geoscience Professor at UW Madison, spoke to WLUK.
“I always approach these things pretty cautiously. But the footage of the security camera showing something striking the ground, immediately after the flash of the fireball, is very persuasive.”
Valley, an expert on the subject, says he’ll have to make certain the chunk found by the Goebels is indeed a meteor.
“We start by looking at it with naked eye, and then with a lens, and then with microscope”
Also in Fond du Lac County, high school teacher Jim Prosser found some new insights on the Monday morning meteor.
“One of my students asked if we had picked it up on my seismograph, which we have in the classroom. So we looked, and sure enough, there was a spike on our seismograph at the same time that the sonic boom had happened”
The seismograph is designed to pick up vibrations from earthquakes. Prosser says he’s never seen readings from a galactic event.
Experts say researching everything they can from these events makes all the difference.
Valley says….”To have it to study is just immensely valuable to science.”
Valley says if the sample does turn out to be a meteorite, it would be the 14th known meteorite to hit Wisconsin.
Valley says if anyone else finds a potential sample, even if you don’t want to donate it, he’s in the Geo-science Department at UW Madison, and would still like to know about it.
