The Urals Impact

Okay, so far information is not only fragmentary, but contradictory. Much of the confusion may be due to translation problems. It likely was a meteorite, but some of the specific descriptions seem more aircraft-like. One man interviewed by the BBC stated it had a tail "like an aircraft" which came off. Others also stated it was an aircraft or "like an aircraft." The statement that it was moving on a low trajectory at 30 kms (kilometers per second for the metric impaired) has been repeatedly made, with no attribution and no explanation of how the trajectory and speed were measured. There is a claim that it was intercepted by the local air defenses. However, the same source claims that the action by the air defenses explains why the object produced a vapor trail, which is nonsense. (Anything passing rapidly through the air with enough humidity present will create a vapor trail. A meteor will likely also produce a trail of vaporized material (that is, it's own outer layer heated and blown off by rapid passage through air) at least while still high and fast.) Reports repeatedly and emphatically declare radiation levels to be normal.

Some of this makes me wonder if a military aircraft perhaps carrying nuclear weapons had a catastrophic accident. A crash of a burning aircraft would produce most of the effects reported, especially if it exploded in the air.

Most likely, this was, indeed, a meteor, possibly from the same source as the much larger asteroid coming later today. Something this small could easily escape notice until it actually entered the atmosphere. However, people aware of the approaching body might be expecting a meteor and ascribe any unusual event in the air to that cause.



Addendum: Turns out this was a complete coincidence. The Urals impactor was from a different source, on a different trajectory.

Plip... Plip... Plip...

Was awakened in the wee hours by the sound of a slow drip. Finally traced it to the carpet under a corner of my water bed. There was dampness inside the liner at that corner, and it was leaking through the liner (which is supposed to contain leaks).

Couldn't do anything about it at the time except pull the sheet and pad up at that corner and put a container under the drip. Oddly, within minutes the dripping stopped.

This morning I stripped the bed and examined the situation in more detail. There was hardly any water, on the mattress, in the liner or in the container. I wiped that up, and so far have not found any more.

Can a vinyl water bed mattress heal itself?

I Keep Tellin' 'Em...

Saw my allergist and a cardiologist today. They both say the reason for my shortness of breath is: My lungs.

I have bronchitis, likely from a combination of allergies and multiple recent respiratory infections. I just need to use my inhaler (which I normally only use for coughing attacks) when I'm also short of breath.

My heart is fine (at least according to multiple tests and my own experience exercising and working).