Debbie Bennett wanted to enjoy the summer evening air and, perhaps, catch a glimpse of an expected meteor shower she had read about in the local newspapers. She never dreamed what a close-up view she would have on a warm August evening in 2001!
Debbie and her husband, Randy, live at the intersection of Yukon Harbor Drive and Cole Drive/Cole Loop along the Eastern shoreline of Port Orchard. Their lot happens to be the site of the original Colby School, which was built in 1885 and served nearly all the children of Colby, Harper, Manchester (known as Brooklyn in those days) and the surrounding areas until about 1906, when a bigger school was built a mile away.
The house they own was built in the early 1940’s, and the Bennetts purchased it in 2001 and have made extensive modifications and additions since. One feature they constructed was a deck over their garage, affording a remarkable view of Puget Sound, Blake Island, Seattle, and Vashon Island. Debbie, expecially, has always enjoyed sitting on the deck to watch the sights and stargaze. Randy, Debbie says, “is not a late night person” and usually turns in early, as he did on the night in question, August 11th.
Nestled into a lounge chair, she was startled when a basketball-sized meteor came rocketing in from due East, about 75 feet off the ground, and nearly parallel to the earth.
“It didn’t make a sound,” Debbie recalls, “but I could smell it. It was kinda round, glowing on the topside and crusty-looking on the bottom. It came in from the direction of Blake Island, passed by our house below the tops of the trees, and went into the hillside above us.” The event was virtually without sound, although she could smell “burning dirt.”
She remembers,
“It smelled like
burnt dirt, but I
didn’t hear a sound.”
Surprised and stunned by what had just occurred, she expected to hear a crash as the red-hot missile sailed in the direction of a house located just uphill and across Yukon Harbor Drive. “I thought there might be a noise or, at least, a fire, but — nothing,” she adds. “I immediately ran to wake Randy, who reacted with disbelief at first.
The meteor probably landed in the slope just to the east of Cole Drive, the short narrow road that connects Mile Hill with Yokon Harbor at that point. The area is undeveloped, but privately owned. Debbie hopes that the Historical Society and other friends can one day organize a search party and go looking for it.
“Wouldn’t that be something to find it?” Debbie says, with a chuckle.
–RN
I’m trying to find out if there was a meteor shower near Spokane WA sometime in the mid 40’s. I seem to remember sitting on shed roof to watch & want to make sure its not my imagination. Thanks