Sky puts on a loud light show  Blue-green glow and booming
noises are thought to be from a meteor  August 17, 2004|By M.
Daniel Gibbard, Tribune staff reporter.  An object believed to
be a meteor brought a fireworks show to the area early Monday,
lighting the night and causing sonic booms that had some people
marveling over the wonders of nature and others scrambling to
call 911.  The bright lights and noise arrived just after 1 a.m.
and were especially prominent in the west and northwest parts of
Chicago and the suburbs, police said.  Meteor showers are
common, especially during the annual Perseid showers this month,
but this was different, experts said.  "Any time you hear a
meteor, it's rare because that typically means the meteor didn't
disintegrate until it got close to the ground," said Bart
Benjamin, director of the Cernan Earth and Space Center at
Triton College in River Grove. "It has to penetrate very deeply
into the atmosphere."  In Buffalo Grove, Gary Franchi Jr., 27,
was hanging out with friends