Possible triple lunar meteor impact in 1966/67

New: 2002 Feb. 11

From: "Ralph Dame" 
To: 
Subject: Meteor Moon Strikes
Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2002 23:38:02 -0500

Hello Joan and David,

In reference to the information on your iota.jhuapl.edu Web site, 
I observed an interesting meteor Moon strike many years ago. It 
occurred around 1966 or 1967 if I remember the year correctly. 

It was within a year or so when I was around 16 to 17 years old. My
location was in Eliot, Maine at the time. I was using an inexpensive 180
power telescope with about a 3" objective lens. Then, and not until
recently did I understand how rare such an event was nor how fortunate I
had been to observe it. Briefly it occurred on the extreme right side of
the Moon. There were three separate strikes. Two separated by about 1/2
second and a third 1 to 2 seconds later. The total duration of each
explosion, looked to last less than 1 second. Therefore it seemed to
happen very fast. I could see what looked like a quick red fireball and
material ejected from the Moon's surface. It actually appeared much like
a nuclear explosion yet considerably faster and much shorter in
duration. It certainly was far more spectacular than any of the photos I
have seen posted to the net.

I expected to see something in the news about it or in one of the 
science mags at the time, but never did. I thought then that it must 
be no rare event and was not news-worthy. I had seen many meteoroids 
enter the Earth's atmosphere on many occasions, so I really didn't 
think it was any big deal then. Besides, who would really believe a 
teenager even if I had known enough to report it. 

Now, I will speculate they must have been extremely large masses.
Certainly had they hit Earth, They would not have been unnoticed.

Anyway, That's essentially what I observed nearly 35 years ago for 
what it's worth. Hopefully you will find that information at least 
interesting. 

Thanks for your time,

Ralph Dame
1 Rowell Cove Road
East Kingston, NH
03827
Phone: 603-642-9520
Email: n4cqc@mediaone.net
ARS: N4CQC