Meteoritic shower in coastal Orissa

An incidence of meteoritic shower was recorded at 6.30 p.m. on 27 September 2003 in a wide area from Kaptipada, Mayurbhanj district to Suniti, Kendrapada district, Orissa, India over a stretch of nearly 12 km. The celestial body appeared in the evening sky for nearly 50 s in the form of a bright star with a dazzling tail, visible in the entire coastal tract covering Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jaipur, Kendrapada, Jagatsingpur, Cuttack, Khurda, Puri and Ganjam districts. The meteor had a NNW-SSE visible flight with luminous streak of white to bluish incandescence and ended up with a series of blasts and illumination similar to that of full moon to twilight. Although there are reports of several fragments falling sporadically in different sites in the estuarine areas of Kendrapada district, only three fragments with a cumulative weight of 6.92 kg have been collected. There have been 12 incidence of meteoritic showers in India, with the largest being at Kheri Maham, Haryana on 7 May 1986. Orissa has witnessed two earlier events of meteorite fall. Preliminary investigation of the meteoritic shower have been dealt with. Meteoritic remnants were recovered from four locations and are reported here.