The Whitehorse Star, February 14, 1995

Meteorite crashes

A meteorite came zooming down over the Yukon faster than Cupid's arrow this morning before ending its fall to earth near Atlin,B.C., the Whitehorse weather office reports.

The bright, falling object followed by a trail of smoke seen this morning at about 8:05 by several Yukoners was probably a meteorite, said David Millar, a weather service specialist with Environment Canada.

"We've had a number of calls here at the (Yukon) weather office. A lot of people thought it was a plane crash." Millar said.

The meteorite's size was likely somewhere between the size of a computer and the size of a small car, Millar speculated. The weather office suspects it landed east of Atlin, near the south end of Teslin Lake.

"It was extremely bright for people to see it when it was actually about 150 miles (240 km) from here."

Millar said a number of callers reported a falling object behind Grey Mountain.

About a year ago, a meteorite fell near Montreal and some people reported seeing pieces of it, Millar said. But it's difficult to find pieces of fallen meteorites in such remote areas, he added.

In more than 20 years of meteorological history, there have been only three reported incidents in the United States of meteorites hitting or grazing a person or building, Millar said. The chances of it having hit person or an animal are highly unlikely, Millar said.

The weather office received some calls from residents of Atlin and surrounding areas as well, said Millar. They also received an inquiry from the Victoria-based Rescue Co-ordination centre as to whether the falling object could have been a plane crash.

After investigating the matter, the weather office has ruled out the possibility of the object being a plane rash and will not likely investigate the incident further, Millar said. No aircraft have been reported missing, he said. Porter Creek resident Brian Quock was on his way to work when he saw the falling object.

"I think I may have just witnessed a plane crash," he told the Star this morning. Quock said the object appeared to be falling behind Grey Mountain. It looked like a large ball of fire with a trail o f smoke, he said.