CHICORA METEORITE — PRESTON, HENDERSON, RANDOLPH 393 



reports a time delay of 1 minute. The explosion shook houses, and 

 people ran into the street to see where the explosion was. The time 

 is reported as 7:30 p. m. (E. S. T. no doubt, but in any case half an 

 hour in error). 



Leo J. Scanlon, secretary of the Valley View Observatory, Pitts- 

 burgh, obtained information from John Dcngler, of north side Pitts- 

 l)urgh: "Time of passage (about) 7:10 p. m., D. S. T., June 24, 1938. 

 Direction: Headed 30° east of north (from compass bearing by Scan- 

 lon). Altitude about 40° when first seen, extremely brilliant head 

 (about as bright as 200-watt lamp at 50 feet), leaving a bright train 

 of white smoke, which persisted for at least a minute and a half. 

 (Others reported it as being visible for about 20 minutes.) Noise: 

 Sharp and loud report, followed by a rumble, which began at about 

 the same pitch as the explosion, gradually growing fainter. Noise 

 heard about 2 to 2)^ minutes after passage of fireball, which was movmg 

 at a speed of about 45° of arc in 3 seconds (estimated by Leo J. 

 Scanlon from rehearsal of observer)." The time interval appears to 

 be getting reasonably close. 



An observer at the North Park, some distance out of Pittsburgh, 

 reports the smoke trail as vertical and in the northeast. This seems 

 correct, for according to our evidence the meteor passed almost over 

 the Park before reaching the atmosphere, and was headed more or less 

 northeast. 



Prof. Charles Williamson and W. H. Bessey, of the physics depart- 

 ment of Carnegie Institute of Technology, observed the phenomenon 

 fi-om the parking lot northwest of the engineering hall on the campus. 

 Writing to Dr. Jordan, of Allegheny Observatory, on June 27, William- 

 son says: ''At 6:58, E. D. S. T., the trail was seen by W. H. Bessey of 

 this department and myself, from the parking lot northwest of our 

 engineering hall. We can fix the time with some precision because I 

 looked at my watch and checked it by an electric clock 3 minutes 

 later. Mr. Bessey, who witnessed the flash, says it was of astonish- 

 ing brilliance. It appeared in an unclouded part of the sky. 



"Today, I took the bearings of some structures belonging to the 

 United States Bureau of Mines above which the trail appeared. Its 

 direction was approximately N. 30° E. The trail was almost exactly 

 vertical as seen in projection; it extended from about 40° to about 25° 

 above the horizon, widening from the top to, say, 30° above the hori- 

 zon, and tapering below. This surprised me and made me infer 

 wrongly that it might be a tracer bullet from some airplane. At its 

 widest point the trail had a breadth of perhaps 30 seconds of arc. 

 It persisted for upwards of 30 seconds and showed no noticeable drift. 

 "We heard the burst at approximately 7:05, but unfortunately I 

 did not look at mv watch." 



