[meteorite-list] Park Forest timing

[Chauncey Walden]

Bernd wrote:


> "He was not yet asleep when he experienced the bright light illuminating his

> bedroom and the tremendous explosions that followed. A *couple minutes* later

> he heard a disturbance outside, he said it sounded like something hit his house."

> 

> In view of the tremendous fireball and the accompanying sound phenomena

> witnessed by various people here in Europe (especially Switzerland, Southern

> Germany and Eastern France) ... was it really "a couple minutes later" or was

> it "a couple seconds later"?


I would think it would be longer than that. If we have retardation at 
100,000 feet, the sound would take about 90 seconds to reach the ground 
and the meteorites at a terminal velocity of, say, 200 mph, would take 5 
minutes, so the difference might be on the order of 3.5 minutes. I'm 
sure someone will chime in with more exact figures.