Fireball! December 9, 1965

I often wonder if a meteor is going to clobber the Earth in my lifetime. I don't worry about it too much, but it crosses my mind from time to time.

Anyway, back on December 9, 1965 – 52 years ago this week – something fiery did indeed fall out of the sky and hit some Lorain County terra firma. It was said to be a fireball, part of a meteorite that apparently was seen over a seven-state area and possibly California. But even now, there is some debate as to what it was that everyone saw, both in the sky and on the ground.

Here's the original story as reported, written by Charles Gray, as it appeared on the front page of the Lorain Journal the next day.

****

So what was it? According to this report in the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, it was – as originally thought – a meteorite.

Or was it possibly some kind of spy craft, as described in this account published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on the 50th anniversary of the event?