Meteorite report grounds Colo firefighting planes

Wednesday June 20, 2012 7:00 PM

DAN ELLIOTT

The Associated Press

BELLVUE, Colo. (AP) — Authorities say reports of a possible meteorite or meteor shower briefly grounded firefighting aircraft battling a central Colorado wildfire.

Meteorologist Scott Entrekin of the National Weather Service says emergency officials in Chafee County reported a possible meteor in the skies near the Springer Fire. They briefly grounded four single-engine aircraft fighting the 1,100-acre blaze west of Colorado Springs.

Entrekin said Wednesday that the crews of two commercial aircraft flying over Liberal, Kan., reported what appeared to be a meteorite at 12:47 p.m. MDT. He said the Colorado sighting occurred at about the same time.

The Federal Aviation Administration says it has no confirmed reports of a meteorite. It says there were no reported disruptions to commercial airlines.

©2013 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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