Title: The great meteor of March 24, 1933 Authors: Nininger, H. H.
A picture purporting to be a photograph of the great meteor of 1933 March 24 in flight was a photograph, not of the meteor itself, but of the meteoric cloud left in the wake of the meteor.
Title: A Brilliant Meteor and its Cloud-Like Trail Authors: Peterson, S. P.
An unusually brilliant meteor was observed at 5:07 am on March 24, 1933, by Pilot C. W. Coyle, while flying a Transcontinental & Western Air Mail plane east from Albuquerque. At the time in question he was near Adrian, Tes., 235 miles east of Albuquerque, at a sea-level altitude of about 9,500 feet. At first it appeared as if a plane had suddenly turned on a landing light to the east of, and at an angular elevation of about 60' from, his position. The meteor passed to the northward, seemingly at about his level, and looked like a ball of fie with pieces bursting from it, and left in its wake a great red trail tinged with blue. It disappeared to the westward and seemed to strike the earth, or disintegrate, northeast of Tucunicari, N. Mex. The meteor also was seen by Pilot F. E.Williams when he was over Aconiita, N. Mex., some 55 miles west of Albuquerque, flying a Transcontinental & Western Air Mail plane westward. Suddenly the sky was brilliantly illuminated, and on looking for the cause he saw the meteor behind him at an indefinite distance. It also was seen by several persons in Albuquerque. A very luminous cloud of bluish-green colour, apparently developed by the meteoric dust, seemed to be suspended in the sky to the east-northeast of Albuquerque over the Sandin Mountains. This cloud remained visible until lost in the light of dawn. It seems that there was some electric development in the atmosphere along the passage of the meteor, as Pilot Coyle said that the radio beam that he was following at the time was cut out by a roar of static. There was much haziness over eastern New Mexico, southeastern Colorado, and the Texas Panhandle the latter part of the 24th, practically all the 25th, and locally in those sections early on the 26th. Whether this was owing to meteoric dust or to other causes is not known. The visibility at Dilia, N. Mex., and at Tucumcari, N. Mex., was reduced to one-half mile at the time of the greatest density of the haze. This meteor attracted the Nation-wide interest of scientists, who have made an extended search for its location. The accompanying photograph of this meteor cloud was taken at 5:30 a.m. The camera was facing toward the east and the luminous cloud was apparently resting on the crest of the Sandia Mountains. There were a few scattering stratus and strato-cumulus clouds but these were still in the shadow of the earth, while the meteor cloud was in full sunshine, as shown in the picture. When first seen by the photographer, the luminous-cloud, looking like a magnesium flare, was midway between the top of the picture and the crest of the mountains.
