USAF NEWS RELEASE Date: May 6, 1997 **************************************************************************** At 19:54:26 UT on Dec. 9, 1995, sensors aboard U.S. Department of Defense satellites recorded a bright atmospheric flash. Although precise location of the flash has not yet been determined, time of the flash and general location is consistent with eyewitness reports of a bright explosive flash in the Cuernca, Ecuador, area at 14:51 local time (19:51 UT) on that day. Those observations consisted of a bright fireball streaking across the sky from north to south, ending in a bright flash and loud explosive noise. Three commercial seismic stations in the area also recorded strong signals at that time. Assuming a 6000K blackbody radiating spectrum, estimates of the peak radiated power and total radiated energy of the flash are 5.4 x 10^10 watts per steradian (visible magnitude -20.8) and 1.1 x10^11 joules, respectively. ***************************************************************************** PLEASE NOTE: THIS USAF BOLIDE INFORMATION RELEASE AND ALL PREVIOUS RELEASES CAN BE FOUND ON THE WWW AT http://phobos.astro.uwo.ca/~pbrown/usaf.html