THE BRILLIANT FIREBALL METEOR. 233
so brilliantly illuminated that I momentarily supposed there had been a flash of
lightning. That erroneous impression was at once removed by the continuance
of the light. Wheeling round I saw a splendid meteor of the fireball type
descending obliquely through the sky. Though the Monday newspapers reported
serious fog in London on the previous day, yet the night sky at Loughton was
perfectly clear ; and it was easy to see that the meteor in its descent was passing
a little to the right of the constellation Gemini, in a direction nearly, but not
quite, parallel to a line joining Castor and Pollux. The head, which was down-
wards, was a large oval mass of light. The tail was not a mere thread of silvery
radiance, like those of November, 1866 ; it seemed broad, irregular on the edges,
and sending out sparks. The fireball had not descended far when it vanished
among a shower of sparks, which also very speedily disappeared. I heard no
rushing sound during its course, and no noise of an explosion when it came to its
end. As the time available for observation extended to only a few seconds it is
possible that there may be some error of detail in the foregoing statements. I
shall not, therefore, call them observations, but mental impressions of what took
place."
Maldon.—A correspondent states : "A rather remarkable meteor was seen on
Sunday night, at about ten minutes to ten, over Maldon. A gardener, George
Lewin, one of the several persons who saw it, was going with a lantern to look
after his greenhouse fires, when he was startled by a bright light in the sky. On
looking up he saw a large ball of fire moving from a south-easterly direction. He
describes it as being like a large rocket, and when not many degrees above the
horizon it exploded with a considerable noise, scattering differently coloured
pieces of fire in every direction. About a minute after it had burst he heard in
the sky a long rolling sound, like thunder, but not so loud,"
Wickford and Woodford.—Several people are reported to have seen the meteor
at these places ; at Wickford an explosion was heard, and at Woodford two
servants reported to their mistress that "the moon had fallen" !
Lieut.-Colonel Tupman (Vice-Pres. Roy. Astronomical Soc),
Burlington House, W., is collecting information with a view of
determining its true path. Col. Tupman is of opinion that the
meteorite burst over a point about midway between Brentwood and
Billericay. Any readers who may have observed the meteor, espe-
cially if they can remember the duration of its appearance, the
interval between the first glimpse and the report of any explosion, or
who can refer to its position with respect to any known stars, are
requested to communicate with the Editor or directly with Col.
Tupman.
Manx Shearwater at Wrabness.—Mr. C. N. Brooks, of Mistley, informs
me that he has an adult Manx Shearwater (Puffinus anglorum), which was shot on
the Essex shore of the Stour, just below Wrabness, by Harry Saunders, on the
morning of September 3rd last. It is being stuffed by Mr. Pettitt, of Colchester.
—Edward A. Fitch, Maldon.