****************************************************************************

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
NEWS RELEASE

Release #004

Visible light sensors on four Department of Defense satellites
observed a large fireball over the Pacific Ocean, 500 kilometers West of
Equador, at 0650 Zulu on Nov 1. From the satellite sensor data, using a
6000K blackbody model, it has been possible to estimate the peak intensity
and radiated energy of the event at 3.2e12 watts and 1.5e12 joules
respectively. The peak intensity corresponds to a visual magnitude of
-22.3.
In a similar event, visible light sensors on a single DOD satellite
observed a fireball at 2001 Zulu on Nov. 3 over the Bay of Bengal, 500
kilometers East of Sri Lanka. The peak intensity and radiated energy for
this event is estimated to be 5.0e12 watts and 2.6e12 joules respectively.
The peak intensity corresponds to a visual magnitude of -22.6.
Further analysis is expected to determine altitudes, trajectories
and velocities for both events. Rough estimates indicate that both events
had similar projections on the celestial sphere.



*********************************-*****************************************