Update (Oct. 17): Eyewitness reports indicate a bright meteor was shortly before the explosion, so it looks like this may be the real thing. Most likely it blew up well above ground, but I’m hoping to hear more stories soon.
News from deep in the Australian outback is that residents of Alice Springs last night heard a boom and felt the ground shake. Aviation accidents have been ruled out, so who knows? That’s a pretty remote region for an accidental dummy weapon drop.
If I hear more, I’ll post.
And I swear, I’m not arranging this as a publicity stunt. But the book officially comes out Monday. 
Tip o’ the Whipple Shield to Thomas Siefert.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Mining Activity? Come on Dr. Plait, I’m sure you can come up with 100s of terrestrial reasons for a boom and ground shaking that has nothing to do with meteorites.
Although, I am starting to think maybe you arranged a lot of this to coincide with the counter over there on the right. 
October 17th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I thought of one or two things like that, but this is pretty remote, and if there were mining going on they’d be used to such things, and it wouldn’t be news. It could have been an earthquake, or a million other things (mostly unrelated to Priscilla, Queen of the Desert). I’ll see what news comes out. I’d rather not call TV stations in Oz at the moment.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:16 am
I got my copy from Amazon yesterday!
October 17th, 2008 at 11:23 am
not a publicity stunt, eh? well how did those giant chunks of rock get into space and then just happen to strike earth when your book comes out?
coincidence? hmm…you probably have a mass driver in your back yard that you built with the advance from the book. colorado has a lot of rocks just lying around…
October 17th, 2008 at 11:39 am
@Jim Seymour
> I got my copy from Amazon yesterday!
Ditto! Three chapters down and loving it so far!
October 17th, 2008 at 11:47 am
I got my copy this morning! (Whoever delivered it didn’t even knock, just left it inside my screen door.) I can’t wait to start reading it this evening!
October 17th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Coincidence or not – in some way there are more blogposts about metorites at the moment….. hm……maybe they are big and red and maybe they can wipe out life on earth
October 17th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Already got my copy, thanks to Amazon, so I’m all set for this weekend!
October 17th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
I bet he didn’t stage the 11 OCT APOD either.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Here’s a photo but I’m a bit suspicious of its authenticity:
http://blog.syracuse.com/strangecny/2007/10/large_UFO.bmp
First of all, the folks near Alice Springs don’t go in for those thick Bermuda grass lawns. They surely prefer desert landscaping, maybe even pebble stone lawns.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Loud noise and rumbling ground? Sounds like the after effects of too much Fosters.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Loud noise and rumbling ground? Sounds like the after effects of too much Fosters.
People don’t drink Fosters down under, it’s for export and tourists.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Things that go bump in the night Down Under – maybe something like this? http://robotbreeder.com/Robotblogger/2006/10/outback-tesla-blast-japanese-cult.html
October 17th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
I know that.
However, every person I’ve ever met who’s gone to Oz, has visited Alice Springs and they never learn about the Fosters thing until they get back
October 17th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Fosters is to Australian beer what Canadian Club is to Canadian whiskey.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
People don’t drink Fosters down under, it’s for export and tourists.
Next you’re going to tell me that they don’t stop to eat at Outback Steakhouse on the way back from the big crocodile wrastlin match.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
It was probably a synchronised drop bear training exercise.. or a really short kangaroo stampede or something!
I got an email from Amazon saying they are trying to get me a copy. Ordered it about a month ago, was supposed to be dispatched today
October 17th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Just found an event that actually got caught with a picture:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081011.html
pretty spectacular to actually view!
October 17th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Phil Plait has a book coming out?
October 17th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
“Phil Plait has a book coming out?”
funny.. he never mentioned it!
October 17th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
I got my book in the mail today!!!
And also I saw it on the shelves at the local Barnes & Noble. I took some quick pics for you Phil.
October 17th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I got my book today too… Here’s DFtS in a bit of context:
http://dcowan38.smugmug.com/photos/396170280_df9vt-XL.jpg
October 17th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
The BA says: “That’s a pretty remote region for an accidental dummy weapon drop.”
Seems to me that would be the perfect place. Would you prefer downtown Sydney?
- Jack
October 17th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Nice place for it! No one cares if they flatten Alice Springs
October 17th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Well Wycliffe Well, the UFO capitol of Australia, is only 500km away…
http://www.wycliffe.com.au/ufo/index.htm
…and Katherine, where the Air Force has a base, is only 1100km away
…and the CIA has an Oz joint facility at Pine Gap not far from the Alice…
http://www.fas.org/irp/facility/pine_gap.htm
Not much mining in or around Alice Springs. Lots of yobbos that may have access to gelignite though.
October 17th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
And that Japanese cult? Nothing as prosaic as a Tesla weapon. Good old fashioned nuke was the story of which there is “some” evidence.
October 17th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
B52’s from Guam used to have practice bombing runs over the territory some years ago too. Not as far south as the Alice though I think.
October 17th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Nice pictures of the territory here…
http://outback.nixons.net
Yeah, I know, big noting myself again…
October 18th, 2008 at 1:25 am
It could all turn out to be Russell Coight making a documentary of how best to preserve an endangered species of lizards.
October 18th, 2008 at 1:32 am
Thomas, now that made me LOL.
October 18th, 2008 at 6:07 am
Dr Phil Plait noted :
“I’d rather not call TV stations in Oz at the moment.”
Hey why not? What’s wrong with us Aussies & esp. our TV stations?
Our Dish (the Parkes Radio telescope) brought home your first TV pictures of your Moon-landings remember!
Woomera has helped develop rocketry a bit too.
As an Adelaide (due south of the Alice, pretty much, albiet hundreds of ks away) resident, I’m just hoping its not the first alien cylinder in some Wellesian* “War of the World’s” type invasion …
Oh as for Aussie beer – try Coopers : Sparkling or Pale Ale or Stout the best beer of all I’d say.
——
* Wellesian referring to H.G. Wells, who wrote that first ever SF alien invasion book back in 1898. Wells predicted chemical WMDs (The Martian Black Smoke), life on other worlds & flying machines before the start of the last century. Thebooks datedsince but not toobadlyallconsidered and still a rivetting read. Recently watched the latest Tom Cruise remake on TV (not bad atmosphere wise altho’ plot was a bit flawed) which in turn inspired me to re-read the original novel so that’s on my mind a bit currently ..
October 18th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Oh & Wells also predicted Infra-Red lasers with the martians “heat ray”. Not bad for the Victorian era before we even had aircraft eh?
Plus Well’s idea of the martian aliens were brilliant and impressively different too. Not in coming from Mars – atthetiem thatwasreasonable given the “knowledge”of tehperiod but rtaher in just how very * alien * they were : bear-sized brains with tentacles a bit like ‘Kodos’ & whatever the other one’s called in ‘The Simpsons’ .. only genuinely scary instead of funny.
Yeah, the original books worth reading -as is a certain other text due out on bookshop shelves soon.
October 18th, 2008 at 6:17 am
%$##@#!!@@! typos! That should read :
—-
Plus Well’s idea of the martian aliens were brilliant and impressively different too.
Not in them coming from Mars – at the time (Lowell’s era befroe Pluto was known &when everyone thought Mars had real canals) that was reasonable given the “knowledge”of the period but rather in just how very * alien * Well’s Martians were :
Bear-sized brains with tentacles a bit like ‘Kodos’ & whatever the other one’s called in ‘The Simpsons’ .. only genuinely scary instead of funny.
October 18th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
I’m waiting for some idiot to connect this event to the Orionid Meteor Shower.
October 18th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
It totally had to be the Orionid Meteor Shower!
October 18th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
@StevoR
Sparkling is good but Vintage is better
October 29th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
My friend and I were walking this evening and saw a bright and long meteor around 9:45.
November 2nd, 2008 at 9:02 am
My children and I were just trying to figure out something we experienced on Friday October 31st. We were sitting together in the kitchen after lunch (EST) and we hear a LOUD boom what sounded like an explosion and our whole house shook! My toddler woke up from her nap saying that something scared her. We have no explanation except that a possible meteor! We are not being silly, but seriously considering this possiblity because we are just finishing the tail end of the Orionid Meteor shower (from Haley’s comet)as witnessed in the sky at night. We live in a rural area and we back up to the mountains. There are NO mines, etc. and there are only 2700 people that populate the whole village. We live outside the village. Anybody else with explanations?