[Tom R.]

Serge--I want to thank you for mentioning the fireball over Michigan and putting a date on it. I saw it. It remains an indelible memory, but until now it was always something that happened "when I was a kid." On that date I was ten years old and living in Ann Arbor. A friend and I were riding our bikes when it went overhead. It was red, yellow and white and about the size of a full moon in the sky. What's more, we heard it-- making a pffft sound as it went. I don't recall a sonic boom, but there may well have been one. We were foolish enough to think if we rode our bikes in the direction it was traveling we would find it. That didn't happen of course, but we knew then, and I know now, that what we saw was a meteor. I've told the story a few times over the years, and I've always kind of hoped to see another one that spectacular, but so far no luck.

Before you posted about the fireball, I was going to add my two cents to the debate by quoting Arthur C. Clarke's "third law": "Technology sufficiently advanced seems like magic." I think we should never underestimate the power of human imagination.

I have a friend who works for JPL and is involved with the Mars rovers. I asked him once, "Have you found life on Mars yet, or are you keeping it a secret?" He said, "We wouldn't keep it a secret. It would be worth billions in additional funding!"

Tom