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Quotations
A Thud in the Night
"i found a strange rock in front of my house that just seemed to have appearred overnight." " Last June, I heard what seemed to be a bunch of gravel being tossed across the roof of our log cabin and travel trailer metal roofs." "A couple of years ago I heard what sounded like bits of rock spray across our metal roof, didn't think much about it at first, next morning I thought that maybe what I heard were bits of meteorites that possibly fell on my roof." "On May 24,1997 a rock weighing 58 grams hit the screen door of my back patio piercing through it and putting a chip in the plate glass. It made quite a noise." "My husband heard a loud bang or thug like something hitting the ground in the garden . It was night and VERY dark so we looked , got spooked and went inside. About a week or so later he was in the garden and found this odd rock." "About 27 or 28 years ago, while fixing a fence, I came across a fence post that was split in half, partially burnt, with a small one ounce rock imbedded near the base." "I found this rock at a site that I thought at first may have been a lightening strike, it was impacted into the earth with only about a 1/3 of it showing and the area around it was charred and still smoldering." "In the middle of April, I was out in my yard and found this rock. Which of course wasn't there before." "The person who gave me the rock over 25 years ago indicated that he heard it hit the ground and picked it up." "It was night time when I heard a very distinct sound, when I went outside I expected to see something but found nothing . The next day I searched the area that I believed would have contained whatever hit my house. When I looked at the shingle from the mansard style roof I saw a mark and dent about the size of a Grapefruit. I searched the area in and around the bushes and sitting a top this evergreen bush was a rock?? My property has no visible rocks of this nature as the perimeter of my house is mulched with no rocks . Just grass and bushes. When I picked the rock up I knew right away that this hit my home as it landed in an area very close to where it hit the roof. I must have been cushioned by the bush it landed on after it projected from the roof. I searched every possible area around my home to make sure I wasn't imaging this all. Nothing like this rock exists on my property." "I discovered a meteorite embedded in my driveway a few days ago." "When I was a young girl in about 1947, my father and I were out at night in a field by our home in Loves Park, Illinois identifying some of the constellations for a school project. Suddenly, there was a streak of light, followed by a thud in a field about 300 ft from where we were standing. We waited until the early morning hours to go out and retrieve it, realizing it would be extremely hot. I remember thinking the heavy metal was iron….not realizing meteorites made of iron are blackened. I brought it to school, so my classmates could see it." "This rock was in an area of sparse grass and I would have seen it while mowing the lawn or actually just walking across the yard… I think it “arrived” sometime over the last week or so…" "It was night time when I heard a very distinct sound, when I went outside I expected to see something but found nothing... When I picked the rock up I knew right away that this hit my home as it landed in an area very close to where it hit the roof." "im sending you 2 emails with 2 different pictures of this rock i found laying in my back yard one morning i got up to go to work!" "I found this large rock (grapefruit size) a few inches from my street on our side yard (about 2 feet wide). It was in August or early Sept. My husband and I put it away in our chifferobe where it has been for 7 mos. This week I have been digging in my small back yard to plant flowers and each day I have found a handful of smaller pieces to this big rock we found in Aug. I don't know what a fusion crust is but if you pick it up it leaves a residue of a black sooty substance. I have many pictures but they are not good. I only have a cheap digital camera and I'm a lousy photographer as well." "A man was working in his garden in the evening of the said date and heard a hissing sound as a rock landed less than four feet from him. He quickly went over to investigate and found a warm black rock freshly embedded in the long grass." "During the meteorite shower in early August, I believe what seems to be a meteorite fell in the yard of my daughters home. It apparently was smoldering all night and the odor from the heated rock was a stench. It hit the surface of the ground and the plants that were beneath it, the roots were scortched and destroyed. It took several buckets of water to stop the smoke and cool it off." "She said it had fallen through the roof in 1964 and she showed me where her roof had been repaired." "I have a son that is now 19 the other day he came home an was telling me this story about when he was little He and a freind saw this really bright firey light fall from the sky and hit the ground. They were all excited and told a bunch of people in a resturaunt but everyone ignored them. The next day they went to look to see if the could find out what they saw fall from the sky and in a cemetary there was a round whole with a bunch of pieces of rock in it. He said it was a meteorite of some kind. And now probably 10-12 years later He and a different freind happened to be in the same cemtary and he was telling the story and remembered exactly where his find was there was a circle of dirt on the ground, no grass had grown there and he bet the kid that if they dug they would find some of these strange looking rocks or whatever they were, and sure enough just below the suface the odd material was there. He did bring one or two of them home with him. Could this really have been a meteorite and who would I contact that might be interested in this. He also said the day they first found it, the tree it came through, on its landing, had the branches broken off." "My grandfather saw it fall from the sky in the early 1920s. It caught the woods on fire. He and his brother went the next day and recovered it. It was buried in the ground about 6 feet and was too hot to touch. It weighs approx. 150lbs." "An old friend saw a burning mass fall in his yard up north in 1984 and last summer I was able to go to the spot and search. I found this greyish, porous rock which is severly burnt and melted at one end." "Eight years ago when I was in fourth grade I was sitting in my backyard on my wooden skateboard ramp, alone, when I heard a relatively loud thud on the ramp about five feet away from me. I turned quickly to see a rock bounce into my yard. I picked up the rock in curiosity. At first I thought my neighbor had thrown it at me, so I scanned to see if he was around but he was nowhere to be seen. I later questioned him on the subject and he didn’t know what I was talking about." "I believe that my grandmother is in possession of a small meteorite. It fell to earth about 30 years ago, and she saw it hit the ground (literally 50 feet away from her). It was still glowing hot as she approached it. After letting it cool down, she took it home and put it on a shelf, were it has remained pretty much untouched for 30 years." "One night ,a rock ,Black and burnt looking (with what appears to be reddish gray dust, also has like glitter under the black ,you can bearly see )came crashing down onto the hood of my van . It hit so hard it dented,cutting the hood. When it hit it also broke my windsheild wiper and cracked my windshield. This was at 10:30 at night. There were no kids around . No vehicles. I went back with a flashlight and retrieved this stone. I am sure this is the rock that hit my van because there is a small amount of my paint from the hood on it." "i respect your opinion but we are sure that we have seen it fallig from the sky and looks like fire and then make a big hole.we tried to touch it but was very hot that was at 3 in the morning.please advise" "As I looked out my window, I saw a rock sitting on my deck. I went outside to look at it and at first, I didn't think it was anything to out of the ordinary. Not until a few minutes later, when I looked back at my house to discover this rock pierced through the siding of my house, into a layer of my insulation and then it must of bounced off and landed on my deck. That's when I became suspicious." "I was driving home one night, still in Virginia, about 9 p.m. est on a long straight road that has nothing but farmers fields on either side. From the top of my windshield I saw this big (well, it looked very large) burning thing falling to the ground, very fast. It burned all the way near to the ground, at what was about 30 yards from the ground it went out for a second then lite back up and appeared to burn out about 10-13 feet from the ground. It was not only very close to me, maybe 1/2 mile, but it also had smaller pieces coming off of it that were also burning. It had a burning trail, or tail that was long, very long streaming from it... I was awe struck. It lite an entire section of the field up. That's how I knew it landed in the field. I saw the plowed corn stalks where the farmers had disked the old corn under it's light. It lit a huge section up. I never heard it hit and since it went out just before it landed I did not see an impact. Not to mention I almost wrecked my jeep watching it!" "7 years ago I saw a meteor falling above me. I slowed to a stop as it's fire-ball got larger untill it 'poffed' into a non-moving white flash about 75 feet in diameter at about 500 feet above the ground. After about 5 seconds I heard a 'thud'. 'Next' I thought, 'there is a meteorite on my ranch' " "I am writing this for my mother. She has a rock which has all the characteristics mentioned in your article on meteorites. She was working in the yard ...layed down her rake....went back later for it.....and this rock was laying there." "In the early 1900" my greatgrand parents were awakened early one morning around 3.00am. by something falling into their front yard when day lite came my greatgrand father dug this meteorite up,i was still smokeing." "I am from Indiana and on my way to work this morning at 4:50 AM my boyfriend and I were riding in our car and saw something green shoot across the sky. He asked me if I saw it too and I told him yes and he asked me what it was. I was thinking a shooting star but I don't know if shooting stars could be green? So if what we saw this morning was a meteor then does that mean it landed somewhere on earth this morning or was it just "passing thru"??? I know the description I gave you "something green shot across the sky" isn't very good...it had a short trail behind it and at first it started white but then had a green ball around it. And there was no noise. And we only saw it for like one second and then it disappeared and there were no stars visible this morning as well." "My Grandfather saw this meteorite fall from the sky about 50 years ago. He Found it in a cornfield the next morning. My Father has it now and I don't think he knows how rare and valuable it is. I believe it is a lunar meteorite and it wieghs at least 20 pounds." "I believe it is a metorite because my window was broken and it left a huge circular area were it busted the glass out then the rest of the window preceded to fall into my back seat. It is about the size of an eye." "My husband found this rock on our back porch next to a long skid across a concrete pad and a dent in the house." "In 2004winter some late; I push my son to take a walk nearby the park, suddenly in is away from me not to 6 meter about street lights, is pounded broken by a ball, this ball rolls to my foot nearby, I pick conveniently it, thought originally is some people is playing a ball game hits not carefully. But has a look all around unexpectedly continually a person's shadow not to have¡KDifficult inadequate is the space falls; Has turned head inspects the street light, it is from place above is pounded, also has a look in the hand this ball under the light sparkling. Never sees the so perfect universe rugby. Examines many related meteorolites the pictures and the news, but I pick this as if too too is perfect, but I believe firmly it indeed am come from the outer space; Because it almost projects on me; The following is I to its description: It has a light mirror surface fusion outer covering, in the spherical surface is inlaying the near hundred seven colors (yellow, green, purple, orange color, brown, gray, white) the gem; One side has is likely has been roasted by the fire, has the colored round corona. The son one side is not that smooth in addition. It not by magnet attraction; After also had the hit street light the spot to lack a small angle; The fusion outer covering interior is likely the green glass material quality, has many bubbles, it may be diaphanous. The penetration photosource is likely the viridis eyeball. It is likely a grain of glass moonie. sorry cannot send for you the sample, because I do not want to destroy it." "A meteor struck my driveway last Wednesday night/Thursday morning, and I have the fragments, what is the probability that its from the comet Swift-Tuttle associated with the Perseid Meteor Shower?" "This elderly man's father was returning home around midnight on horseback sometime around the year 1890. Suddenly the sky was lighted as a ball of fire with sparks shooting off of it passed overhead. Though an excellent rider, the man was thrown from his horse. The object made, as he described, a loud whining, roaring sound and it was gone in a moment of time. He felt that the object had struck the earth nearby but it was not reported or found." "This rock has been passed down in my husbands family since between 1944-1948. It flew out of the sky and hit a wheat field that then caught on fire. The fire was put out and later the rock discovered at the sight where the rock was located ..." "While I was looking outside of my bathroom window on the second floor. I had an object to strike my copper roof which, I just happened to witness and heard as it hit. My first thought was, 'What the heck was that?'" "An large object passed almost directly over my head. It was size of half a school bus to the size of a small car. It was on fire rather than a fireball. The fires color was an orange to yellowish orange... It made a load hissing, sputtering and roaring sound with fast oscillations. "we saw a round ball type of glowing multiple colors (Red, Blue, Green but predominantly red) with a tail of many colors, making a whishing sound (whoosh). It was heading towards an open field. It was found the next day in the morning as it glowed as the sun reflected on it in the open field." "I have experienced rocks falling on my house. I know that these rocks are coming from Heaven, just need for it to be confirmed." "i believe this is a meteor(rite) i found in the afternoon on my deck on 04/24/07 i photographed it immediately....id like to research if it is a true meteor.... that actually burned into my deck im sending a few of my pics for u to help" "I was at a friends house a few weeks back when an object shown in the attached pictures crashed in his yard." "My wife found it several years ago in our back yard. It was buried most of the way into the ground with about 4" protruding from the ground. Enough that it would have caught the mower blade. It had fell sometime since the yard was last mowed because it wasn't there before. It appears to have fallen straight down and impacted the earth with such velocity that it cleared away dirt and grass around it and It was so deep that it had to be dug up and removed." "ABOUT 35 YRS AGO MY FRIEND WAS SITTING OUTSIDE NEXT TO HIS CABIN ... AND A METEOR CAME DOWN THE SIZE OF AN OSTRICH EGG AND WENT INTO THE LAKE 20 FT FROM WHERE HE SAT, AND THE NEXT MORN HE WAIDED IN AND DUG IT OUT, AND SENT IT SOMEWHERE AND THEY SAID IT WAS ONE." "Unfortunately, I no longer have the actual meteorite, but I know that I had one. It hit a cherry tree in the backyard of the house across the street one night when I was a kid. Sounded like an explosion! The next day, the tree looked like it had been hit by lightning, though there had been no lightning that night. I think there may have been a meteor shower, but I'm not certain. The tree was split in half. I found the meteorite some yards away, embedded in the ground! I know it had not been there previously, it would have been quite obvious. If I'm recalling correctly, the grass around the impact site was somewhat scorched, as well. It was about the size of a baseball or just slighly smaller, but not spherical like one, seemed to be sort of metallic, and heavy for it's size." "My husband went out to mow our three acres of land. It had rained really hard for a few days, and he told me to come out and see this big strange rock in the grass. We have no idea how it could have got there as it weighs almost 25 pounds. It seems alot more heavier. It could not have fallen off a passing truck as it's at least 100 feet from the road. ... there are no rocks in our clay soil. I know you are bothered by alot of dumb calls but we really don't know what to do. It had to fall from the sky in our minds. The only other way would be for someone to carry it and place it where we found it. My husband and I are retired and do not play pranks. And we live out in the country where nieghbors are few and far between." "My step-father told me that years ago (45 yrs now) a preacher that he knew gave it to him when he was 9 or 10. The man told him that he watched it fall from the sky and that it was so hot he had to wait to touch it." "I attached five photos of my rock for you to look at it and see what you think about this rock. It landed on the roof of my house back in 2001. it weighed about 3.5 Kg. a little magnetic and matellic on it as you see in one of photos. It has very light fusion crust but I still not sure, it is dark gray. I found it about a couple feet from the hole on second floor attic." "Hey I was looking up meterorites last night because a friend stopped by with one that crashed through his roof it's real heavy and he left a piece here that broke off." " It landed about 1 am on August 13 2007! My daughters ... and I were hoping to see some meteors and were hoping to see something spectacular! We were outside watching the meteor shower and saw one come straight over us and it exploded right over our heads! It seemed very close! Then we saw a spiraling object smoking toward us in a corkscrew pattern and I ducked!! I felt silly cause what could I do to protect myself if it were to hit me? Lol... We could also smell a bunt metalish smell shortly after the object fell!! Anyway we found the object today stuck into the dirt. It landed about 4 feet from where [my daughter] was standing and about 8 feet from where I was standing! The object is about egg size, black and rocklike. I have pictures of the hole and have the stone with the dirt embedded on one side." "Here is my story. I'm pretty sure this rock came from the sky which is very magnetic. It hit my house in a very strange spot. It hit my front window of my house that is facing a southerly direction. It was about eight feet off the ground and it ripped through a stainless steel screen." "Well in 1994 this thing fell out of the sky and hit an 18 wheeler and did major damage to the truck" "The attached photos are of a rock found approximately 8 feet from a shattered glass table located under a wooden slat pergola on our pool deck..." "I know you may get several emails from people but I thought it best to see of you could give me your expert opinion on what happened at my house yesterday. I came home from work around 4:00 p.m. and went to get the mail. On my way back to the house I noticed what looked like a bullet hole in my driveway. I looked around and noticed several of them." "I was sitting on my back patio (facing North) looking at the Big Dipper when all of a sudden I see the most brilliant/bright ball come flying over my house with a fire tail behind it. It was so incredible. I could actually here it "fizzing" as it came over the house. As I sat there in amazement, watching this, I heard a "thump" like sound as it was passing over my house. The next day I decided to go investigate where I thought I heard the sound. To my amazement, the pictures show what I found. The rock was in my front yard laying in barkdust." "I've had my local geology department look at a pebble that hit me in the head (felt like a rain drop). Please take me seriously. It is a bit funny. ...It is magnetic, shiny black, heavy for its size, and did hit me in the head and stuck in my hair. I pulled it out five minutes later.I had got out of the shower 15 minutes previous, therefore when I found it, I thought; how the heck??" "My sister's Cadillac trunk lid received a nasty dent that nearly pierced the metal.The damage is slightly downward. Everyone assumes a nearby lawn mower threw a rock. A rock the size of a baseball was found close by. The rock has a thin layer of crust and responds to a magnet and is very heavy for it's size. Any ideas ?" "When the Hale Bopp Comet passed by us a few years ago I collected several quarter sized fragments that made their way to earth. These fragments were still smoking when I discovered them. I was driving past my grandparents home when I noticed several small fires. These fires were started in the pine straw around the shrubs. In the pine straw is where I found the quarter sized fragments. My home is about a half mile from my grandparents home and I also noticed several “pot marks” on my wood deck. These “pot marks” were clearly impact points of fragments but when the fragments hit the hard wood surface they shattered to much smaller fragments and mostly powder. This event happened about mid-day." "Last month my mom was taking her garbage out and this "meteorite" "rock" fall out of the sky about 8 feet from her into the driveway... There were no people around so nobody threw it and she did see it fall and hit ground." "My dad said they watched this meteor come within the earth's atmosphere and exploded. The sound off of it was louder than a sonic boom. This thing busted apart into small pieces and began falling from the sky. Much of it rained down throughout the entire Silver Valley area and had every field on fire. When they saw it raining down, they too ducked into the storm cellar. They could hear pieces of it hitting the ground and the steel cellar door like hail. My dad thought the world was coming to an end!! A piece of this stuff went right through the roof of my dads' uncle's front porch. After they quit hearing the thuds on the ground, they all climbed out of the cellar to see the fields on fire, the front porch on fire, and the barn on fire. They all grabbed buckets and started dipping water from the well to put the front porch out, but lost the barn. Dad went out the next day and found this rock laying everywhere, still too hot to touch." "I think I might have found a meteorite. I've put in a link to a few pictures and will keep the email short. I found the rock next to my parked car in the apartment complex parking lot in Austin, TX. The parking space is paved with normal asphalt used for making roads. Here's why I think this might be a meteorite; it had created a dent / small crater of the shape and size similar to the rock in such hard asphalt and of course there aren't any other rocks like this around here." "One night while out in the yard with the dog, I heard the sound of a rock being whizzed through the trees and then a thud sound a short distance from where I was standing. It was too dark to see clearly so I just proceeded to go inside. The following day my husband is holding this rock in his hand telling me he thinks he found a meteorite in the backyard. He said it stood out like a sore thumb, because it was just laying on top of the ground in an area we had just cleared a few days before. After showing me where he found it, I told him about the incident the night before." "i assure you it s meteorite becoz the lad didnt look for it .he watched it it fell on the sand near where they were standing one night.he knows much about the desert .he knows the whereabouts and where it fell coz not far from the tent .the next days and till the other friends forgot about it he went and picked it up.it took him very little time coz he knew wher it was lying ! he recognized it coz its sight becomes different while he was walkin around it . i asked him to take more photos .he is in the desert.he lives there." "...about eight years ago when I was in fourth grade I was sitting in my backyard on my wooden skateboard ramp, alone, when I heard a relatively loud thud on the ramp about five feet away from me. I turned quickly to see a rock bounce into my yard. I picked up the rock in curiosity. At first I thought my neighbor had thrown it at me, so I scanned to see if he was around but he was nowhere to be seen. I later questioned him on the subject and he didn’t know what I was talking about." "Many years ago a friend and his buddies, who were michievous lads in a rural area, found an old yoke from a lawnmower. Pondering what to do with such a find, he came up with the idea of making a giant slingshot. They found some truly huge rubber bands and collected a stash of appropriate sized stones, and they managed to rig up the device in an abandoned field outside town. They disported themselves on a fine morning by launching their missiles idly into the air until they became bored, then wandered off in search of fresh amusement. The next day, there was a story in the local paper about a mysterious hail of rocks from the sky. No one was hurt, but several cars suffered some damage." |
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from the Peoria Journal
Star
Rock that smashed window likely from recycling centerFriday, April 6, 2007 BY: Fitzgerald M. Doubet BLOOMINGTON - The alleged meteorite that crashed through a Bloomington couple's home last month now appears to have a more earthly origin. Robert "Skip" Nelson, a professor of geology at Illinois State University, along with his colleagues, originally believed the metallic rock that landed March 5 in David and Dee Riddle's home at 25 Partner Place to be a meteorite. Upon further examination, his theory has changed. "It appears that it was a piece of metal, steel actually, that had been embedded in a log probably as a growing tree," Nelson said. "The log was put into a wood chipper, an industrial wood chipper. Inside the chipper the hammers were revolving at a significant velocity, and when they hit this piece of metal in there, it kicked it out the top of the chipper with a velocity in excess of 200 miles an hour." Nelson believes the piece of steel - about the size and shape of a deck of cards - inadvertently wound up in the wood chipper at Twin City Wood Recycling on Oakland Avenue. "They found that it came crashing through the house, and traveling that velocity, the first thought was that it was a meteor," Nelson said. "It was coming down at a 60 degree angle. When it was shot out, or ejected from the chipper, it traveled over 300 meters, more than 900 feet, two city blocks. It was really moving and had a trajectory like you fired it out of a mortar." John Wollrab, owner of Twin City Wood Recycling, said foreign objects making their way through the chipper is not common. "It happens from time to time, but we try to prevent that," Wollrab said. The Riddles plan to keep the shiny black piece of steel around as a memento of their experience. "It was fun. I'm a little disappointed, though," Dee Riddle said. "It would have been a lot more fun if it had been even something from outer space, maybe not even a meteorite. We have had fun with it, and we will keep it just as a conversation piece."
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from the Asbury
Park Press
Tests show object isn't meteoriteSaturday, May 12, 2007 BY:Joseph Sapia FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP - The flying object that came crashing through the roof of a township house in January was not a meteorite, as initially thought. Not to worry. It appears man-made, not space invader-made, according to recent testing, information about which was released Friday. "Basically, it's a piece of stainless steel," said Jeremy Delaney, a Rutgers University meteoriticist who became involved in analyzing the item Jan. 3, the day after it fell and when the homeowner notified township police. The rock-like item was silver and brown, lumpy but smooth. It was about 2-1/2 inches by 1-1/2 inches, weighing about 13 ounces. Because the object had no specific distinguishing characteristics, "we can't take it much further" to identify its source, Delaney said. Although it remains an unidentified flying object, Delaney speculated it was "space junk," or spacecraft debris. Srinivasan Nageswaran, whose family discovered the silver object after it crashed through the roof and into the upstairs bathroom of his home, was disappointed by the news. "That's the nature of science," the 46-year-old information technology consultant said Friday. "If the conclusion from the test says it's not a meteorite, then it's not a meteorite. We have to move forward. "It's still the world's most popular metallic object that fell from the sky," Nageswaran said. Debris falls daily. About 11,000 items of space debris larger than about 4 inches are known to exist, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. All told, according to NASA, tens of millions of space debris items probably exist. Over the last 40 years, an average of one piece per day of known space debris has fallen to Earth, with no serious injuries or significant damage to property confirmed, according to the space agency. "Space junk is kind of a default answer," Delaney said, explaining conventional aircraft would be eliminated as a source because the Federal Aviation Administration reported none in the area at the time of the crash. Peter Elliott, a Colts Neck metallurgist involved in an early analysis of the object - and who thought it was a meteorite - suspected space debris when told of the test results. The item seems to have come from space because of a triangle-like pattern, suggesting heat, Elliott said. An item falling from a conventional aircraft at a lower altitude would not have had the heat pattern, Elliott said. About a week and a half ago, scientists viewed the item under a new, advanced electron microscope at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, then immediately analyzed the results, Delaney said. By the end of that day, the scientists from the museum and Rutgers concluded it was not a meteorite, Delaney said. The item had chromium, a typical component of stainless steel, Delaney said. A meteorite would have been basically nickel and iron, Delaney said. "This particular composition is not one we've ever seen (happening naturally)," Delaney said. The delay in testing the item was a combination of arranging schedules of the Nageswaran family and those of scientists, as well as the availability of the microscope, Delaney said. "It's a new tool and it's very much in demand," Delaney said of the microscope. On Jan. 2, the item crashed into the family's home in the Colts Pride development along Route 537. It went through the roof, then into a second-floor bathroom, where it bounced off a tile floor and embedded into the wall, according to township police. Early on, there seemed a sureness the object was a meteorite. Its shape, density, color and magnetism suggested meteorite, according to Rutgers. Household stainless steel generally is nonmagnetic, Elliott said. But stainless steel does come in magnetic forms, Elliott said. "There was a sureness in the evidence that was available - the physical evidence," Delaney said. "But we wanted to test it more thoroughly." Delaney said he was unaware of any continued analysis now that the item is determined not to be a meteorite. "I was pretty comfortable from right when I first saw it (that it was a meteorite)," said Elliott, who was not involved in the recent testing. " I wonder how many of the past ones (believed to be meteorites) were fully analyzed." On Jan. 27, the Rutgers University Geology Museum displayed the object as a meteorite at its open house. "Oh, well, you win some, you lose some," said Delaney, speaking of the display. "Now, we are in the position of saying, "Oops.' " The public, now, has a glimpse of how scientific analysis works, Delaney said. "New experimental evidence routinely causes scientists to change earlier hypotheses that were based on the best information available at that time," Delaney said. After the object crashed through the roof, various people reported objects falling from the sky. Delaney viewed up to 50 objects, with all turning out to be a "meteorwrong" - not a meteorite. Of the 50, only one falling in the "same general area" on possibly the same day might be related debris, Delaney said. No more information was immediately available on the other object. Aircraft debris would have fallen at the same time, while orbiting debris could have fallen over hours, Delaney said. Had it been a meteorite, within the context of it crashing through a house, "it was probably worth several thousand dollars," Delaney said. And, now that it is likely man-made debris? "Zero, regrettably," Delaney said. |
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Mystery Object From Sky Identified as Woodchipper PartBy: The Associated Press, 18 July 2007, 4:27 p.m. ET BAYONNE, N.J. (AP) -- A hunk of metal that crashed through the roof of a home had NASA and Federal Aviation Administration officials scratching their heads. It didn't look "very space-y,'' said Henry Kline, a spokesman for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. " It's obviously made for something ... But we wouldn't know what to do with it.'' It didn't appear to be an airplane part either, the FAA said. Finally, FAA spokesman Jim Peters said Wednesday, a colleague in his office solved the mystery: It was part of a commercial woodchipper. The same part from another woodchipper's grinder had caused similar confusion last year, he said. [The Bloomington, IL, story above.] How it got on a Bayonne roof was anyone guess, but Peters had a theory. The grinder piece moves very fast and, apparently, it can launch into the air if something goes wrong. The man who lives in the house was watching television Tuesday when he heard a crash and saw a cloud of dust. In the next room, he found the hunk of gray metal, 3 1/2 inches by 5 inches, with two hexagonal holes in it. The part was being returned to Bayonne Police on Wednesday, Peters said. "It belongs to somebody,'' Police Director Mark Smith
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Mysterious Chunks of Ice Pelt Iowa TownDUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) -- Large chunks of ice, one of them reportedly about 50 pounds, fell from the sky in this northeast Iowa city, smashing through a woman's roof and tearing through nearby trees. Authorities were unsure of the ice's origin but have theorized the chunks either fell from an airplane or naturally accumulated high in the atmosphere -- both rare occurrences. "It sounded like a bomb!" 78-year-old Jan Kenkel said. She said she was standing in her kitchen when an ice chunk crashed through her roof at about 5:30 a.m. Thursday. "I jumped about a foot!" ... Occasionally, aircraft latrines discharge contents at altitude, resulting in chunks of descending ice. Airplanes also sometimes accumulate ice on their edges in certain atmospheric conditions, including high altitude and extreme moisture, said Robert Grierson, the Dubuque Regional Airport manager and a pilot. ... |
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Object that fell through roof of Dallas home was part of a tree-mulching machine, police sayAssociated Press http://www.startribune.com/nation/40426837.html February 27, 2009 DALLAS - Police say a 6-pound chunk of metal that crashed through the roof of a Dallas home was part of a machine that was grinding up an unwanted tree nearby. Sgt. Gil Cerda says: "Mystery solved." So much for the theory it could have been a piece of debris from this month's collision of Russian and U.S. satellites. Cerda says the metal chunk was a grinding tip of a mulching machine being used by a tree disposal service crew. No one was hurt when it went flying Tuesday. Senior Cpl. Janice Crowther said no charges will be filed against the business because it was an accident. The satellite debris theory also came up when a fireball streaked
across the Texas sky Feb. 15. That turned out to be a meteorite.
It also surfaced last week when a piece of metal crashed through
a New Jersey warehouse. That was another errant piece of a mulching
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