Brilliant light gives night owls a rare treat
Islanders who happened to be up at 2:41 a.m. today were treated to a spectacular light show in the sky."I wish I'd seen it," said Bishop Museum Planetarium Manager Peter Michaud, who was asleep and missed it. "It probably was a once-in-a-lifetime one to see."
But what, exactly, was it?
From talking to people who saw it and called the planetarium, Michaud said it sounds like the light might have been a bolide, or fireball -- a very bright meteor.
On the other hand, it could have been a piece of space junk, he said. "A piece of satellite or discarded rocket element. It's hard to tell.
"It was so bright and people did see different colors, too. Sometimes that's indicative of space junk because of different metals used in spacecraft."
Police dispatchers on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island; the planetarium's security guards; and radio stations all received a lot of calls about the mysterious light.
On Oahu, callers described it as bluish-purple. On the Big Isle, where calls came in from all districts, police said the light made the night sky as bright as day.
The Coast Guard said it appeared to be a large meteor traveling through the sky.
Sporadic meteors -- remnants of the solar system -- are common. "But to have one happen overhead when you happen to be looking up is pretty rare for an average individual," Michaud said.
Having seen one once, Michaud recalled, "It makes your hair stand on end.
"It is a spectacular thing to see but, scientifically, it is probably not all that significant."
Park Service purchases 50 acres of Maui land
The National Park Service has bought 50 acres of Maui land between the ocean and Hana Highway for $1.19 million.John Reynolds, National Park Service Pacific West Region director, says the price is half the appraised value of the land.
The land, purchased March 19 from the Conservation Fund, provides excellent ocean and inland views, and also protects the landscape around the Kanekauila Heiau, including a historic cemetery and the remains of a Catholic church, the park service said.
Laurance S. Rockefeller had sold the 50 acres to the Conservation Fund.
See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staff'Drive-by' suspect faces attempted-murder count
Police last night arrested a suspect in connection with a "drive-by shooting" in the Pacific Palisades area.A 37-year-old man reported that he was shot at with a shotgun by several males in a Honda on Apoepoe Street at 9:30 p.m., police said. The man told police he knew some of the suspects.
No injuries were reported.
One of the suspects, a 29-year-old Kaneohe man, was apprehended in the Kaneohe area at 11:30 and booked for attempted murder.
Man critically beaten at Mayor Wright Housing
Police are searching for suspects involved in an assault at Mayor Wright Housing which has left a 22-year-old Palolo Valley man in critical condition.Officers witnessed the man lying on the ground yesterday at 2:35 a.m., police said. A housing guard told officers he witnessed four boys running through the area near the time of the beating.
The man suffered multiple injuries to the head and remains in critical condition at Queen's Hospital, police said.
Police said they do not know if the incident is gang-related.
Deep-diving practice fatal for 26-year-old
A 26-year-old man drowned yesterday while practicing for a "deep diving contest" at the Manoa Valley District Park swimming pool.The man told lifeguards he was practicing for the event and would wear a weighted belt to keep him under water, detectives said.
At 4:57 p.m., a woman reported that a man was at the bottom of the swimming pool.
When the lifeguard told her that he was practicing for a contest, she said the man had been under water for an hour, police said.
The belt was cut from the man, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Homes left untouched by Big Isle brush fire
NAALEHU, Hawaii -- Firefighters were mopping up this morning after a brush fire whipped by 30-mph winds cut through the Discovery Harbor subdivision in the Kau district yesterday, narrowly missing five homes.The fire was reported at 12:52 p.m. burning through heavy brush and trees, the fire department said. Roadblocks were set up on several streets, but no evacuation was ordered.
After saving the five houses, valued at $500,000, using ground crews and a helicopter making water drops, the fire was declared under control about 6:15 p.m.
The main access to the area, Kamaoa Road, remained closed during the night.
Two seriously injured as pickup runs off road
HILO -- Three people were injured, two of them seriously, when a pickup truck ran off Saddle Road near the 23-mile marker about 7:25 a.m. yesterday, police said.The driver, a 23-year-old woman, suffered minor injuries, police said.
A 26-year-old male passenger was flown by military helicopter to Queen's Hospital, where he remained today in critical condition.
Another passenger, a 20-year-old woman, was taken to Hilo Hospital with serious injuries.
Police seek man, 18, in roommate's stabbing
HILO -- Police are looking for a an 18-year-old man who allegedly stabbed his roommate at their Hawaiian Beaches home south of Hilo about 6:15 p.m. yesterday. The victim is in guarded condition.See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
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