WikiDwarfBOT at 08:20, 22 July 2023

2023-07-22T08:20:24Z

New page

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Short description|Possible meteorite fall over Michigan & Indiana, United States}}

[[File:Hobbs Diagram of Meteor Sightings.png|thumb|William Herbert Hobb's diagram of eyewitness sightings of the 1919 Michigan meteor.]]
The 1919 Michigan Event refers to a possible [[meteor air burst]] on the evening of November 26, 1919, over far northern [[Indiana]] and southern [[Michigan]] in the United States.<ref name="Hobbs" />

==Overview==
Shortly before 8:00 pm (local time) on November 26, 1919, dozens of eyewitnesses throughout northern Indiana and southern Michigan reported seeing a "brilliant meteor" traveling westward toward [[Lake Michigan]]; the meteor was widely reported as both extremely colorful and producing audible sounds.<ref>{{cite news |title=Earth Quivers as Sky Phenomenon Descends |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1919-11-27/ed-1/seq-1/ |access-date=December 1, 2022 |work=The Washington Times |publisher=Library of Congress |date=November 27, 1919}}</ref> The meteor was also sighted in more distant locations, including [[Newberry, Michigan]], within the state's Upper Peninsula, [[Lucknow, Ontario]], and across Lake Michigan in [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]].<ref name="Kelly">{{cite journal |last1=Kelly |first1=William |title=The Meteor of November 26, 1919 |journal=Science |date=June 3, 1920|volume=51 |issue=1327 |pages=568–569 |doi=10.1126/science.51.1327.568.a |pmid=17743330 |s2cid=239876689 |url=https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.51.1327.568.a? |access-date=December 1, 2022}}</ref> The shockwave from the meteor created earthquake-like tremors which caused damage to telephone lines, telegraph lines, and electrical infrastructure.<ref name="Mack">{{cite web |last1=Mack |first1=Eric |title=A gigantic meteor shook Earth on Thanksgiving eve, 100 years ago |url=https://www.cnet.com/science/a-gigantic-meteor-shook-earth-on-thanksgiving-eve-100-years-ago/ |website=CNET |publisher=CNET |access-date=December 1, 2022}}</ref>

==Selected eyewitness reports==

[[William Herbert Hobbs]] recorded this account from Leroy Milhan, from [[Centreville, Michigan]]:<ref name="Hobbs" /><ref name="Mack" />
{{Quote|"Very bright-yellowish light suffused the clouds and seemingly every particle of cold, misty rain that was falling. The road, trees, houses, and even ourselves were bathed in a blinding phosphorescent-like glow which had its center in a bright streak in the sky above us. It passed over us toward the west. Immediately came a muffled report or jar that shook houses and the very earth like an earthquake."}}

Coast Guard stations on the eastern shoreline of Lake Michigan reported the following:<ref name="Hobbs" />
{{Quote|"A brilliant meteor was scene by watchmen at the Coast Guard stations at Ludington and Point Sable at 7:45 P.M. on the twenty-sixth. It was first seen almost overhead, whence it moved to the south, leaving a trail of blue. When near the southern horizon, and apparently along the lake shore, it burst like a sky-rocket into many pieces, which were colored blue, red, green, and yellow and otherwise, and fell to the ground. A swishing was heard as the meteor passed through the air; no explosion and no shock were felt."}}

Hobbs recorded this account from L. L. Hamilton from [[Decatur, Michigan]], who was driving west of [[Dowagiac, Michigan]]:<ref name="Hobbs" />
{{Quote|"I was frightened by a white light touched with green and by flashes that were at least ten or fifteen seconds displayed. A big ball of fire which looked as big as a balloon disappeared in the woods in front of me. When this occurred, I pulled up on the clutch, and stopped. It seemed as thought I was stunned and could not stir. I did not hear a very loud sound – only a jar – as my engine was running. I regained my senses, the light disappeared, and I resumed my journey. I could not see anything in the woods, but noticed an odor like sulphur burning...all was lighted up like day in the direction of the woods for a few seconds, and feeling sure my machine was on fire, I made an attempt to get out and see."}}

==Impact Location==
Newspaper accounts in the following days widely quoted a [[Grand Haven, Michigan]] lighthouse keeper, who claimed that the meteor impacted Lake Michigan.<ref>{{cite news |title=Huge Meteor Falls Into Lake Michigan; Explosion Shakes Buildings in Cities. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1919/11/28/archives/huge-meteor-falls-into-lake-michigan-explosion-shakes-buildings-in.html |access-date=December 1, 2022 |work=New York Times |date=November 28, 1919}}</ref> A subsequent analysis by geologist William Herbert Hobbs, published by the [[Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters]], suggested that these reports may have been exaggerated.<ref name="Hobbs">{{cite journal |last1=Hobbs |first1=William Herbert |title=Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters |journal=Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters |date=1921 |volume=1 |pages=253–268 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kcrxAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP1 |access-date=November 30, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Chamberlain |first1=Von Del |title=Meteorites of Michigan |url=https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/egle/Documents/Programs/OGMD/Catalog/02/BU05.PDF?rev=548009b2455f47dbbd9514fdbcfe3176 |website=State of Michigan |access-date=December 1, 2022}}</ref> Hobbs interviewed witnesses throughout Michigan and northern Indiana and determined that the majority of the meteor likely exploded in the air near [[Pokagon, Michigan]]. While Hobbs was initially optimistic about finding fragments of the meteor based on his analysis of its flight path, none were ever located.<ref>{{cite news |title=Prof. Hobbs Maps Meteor's Course |url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071755701/423 |access-date=December 1, 2022 |work=The Michigan Daily |date=December 10, 1919}}</ref>

== References ==

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Meteorite falls]]
[[Category:Meteorites found in the United States]]

1919 Michigan Event - Revision history

WikiDwarfBOT at 08:20, 22 July 2023