Posted on 06/12/2009 3:56:22 AM PDT by JoeProBono
A teenager was hit by a meteorite travelling at 30,000mph - and lived to tell the tale.Gerrit Blank was on his way to school when he saw a massive fireball heading straight towards him from the sky.
The white-hot meteorite bounced off the schoolboy's hand and hit the ground so hard it left a foot-long crater in the tarmac - as well as a three-inch scar on his hand.
Gerrit, 14, said: "At first I just saw a large ball of light and then I suddenly felt a pain in my hand.
"Then, a split second after that, there was an enormous bang like a crash of thunder."
"The noise that came after the flash of light was so loud that my ears were ringing for hours afterwards.
"When it hit me it knocked me flying and then was still going fast enough to bury itself in the road."
Scientists are now studying the pea-sized meteorite, which crashed to Earth in Essen in Germany.
Chemical tests on the rock have now proved it is from outer space.
Ansgar Korte, director of Germany's Walter Hohmann Observatory, said: "It's a real meteorite, therefore it is very valuable to collectors and scientists."
Chances of being struck by a meteorite are around one in 100 million.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.sky.com ...
Get him a glove & have him stand outside Wrigley Field. He’ll clean up with that kind of luck.
guess we better get our purple Nikes on.
kewl.
Boy Hit by Meteorite Traveling at 30,000 MPH
(I smell conspiracy- fireballs now “Classifed”)
FoxNews | 6-12-09
Posted on 06/12/2009 9:58:35 AM PDT by simonsaid
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2270494/posts
-the new policy is mentioned-
Military Covering Up Fireballs From Space
FoxNews
Posted on 06/11/2009 12:30:47 PM PDT by Scythian
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2269795/posts
Military Hush-Up: Incoming Space Rocks Now Classified
Space | 10 June 2009 | Leonard David
Posted on 06/11/2009 1:53:47 PM PDT by BGHater
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2269857/posts
Rain of Iron and IceOn November 27,1919, a meteorite fell into Lake Michigan near the Michigan shore. "Residents of Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, South Bend, Grand Haven, and other Western Michigan cities fled from their homes in panic, fearing an earthquake. Houses were shaken, the country was illuminated as by a bright sun's rays, so all-enveloping it was impossible to tell from which direction the flare came, the earth trembled for half a moment and then came a deep prolonged rumbling as of a terrific explosion." (p 159)
by John S. Lewis
Thanks! I was about to go looking for those on the web!
Thanks, interesting experience.
The Peekskill NY impact, cratered Michelle Knapp’s car:
http://astro.wsu.edu/worthey/astro/html/im-meteor/peekskill-car-trunk-2.gif
http://astro.wsu.edu/worthey/astro/html/im-meteor/peekskill-car-trunk.gif
http://astro.wsu.edu/worthey/astro/html/im-meteor/peekskill.mpg
He was heard saying: "Heads up... I got it!"
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~suddenly it all makes sense~
It must have been composed of Outerspacium.
Terminal velocity applies only to ballistically falling objects, not trans-orbital velocity objects.
Not true. At that velocity, very little of its energy would be transferred to his hand. It might punch a neat round hole through... or (as in this case) where it hits obliquely, a longitudinal gouge. I doubt the meteorite "bounced" off his hand... at that velocity I doubt his hand had much effect on the meteor. If they had said his hand bounced off the meteor, I think that would be more correct.
If that is true, then there are about 60 people on Earth right now who have been hit by meteorites. Of course, I could go and buy a meteorite and throw it at the next 100 people I see and they would technically have been "hit by a meteorite."
This kid was struck by a meteor.
I doubt the burn. To burn, the hot item has to have a period of time to do the damage. Even an extremely hot object still has to have time in contact or proximity to cause a burn. Just as you can momentarily touch a hot stove, or quickly pass your hand through a candle flame, so should the extremely short time it takes to traverse 3" at 30,000 MPH lack the necessary time to transfer any heat energy. At the velocity of a meteor, there would be little time for the temperature of the skin to elevate.
That's just poor journalism. They also should not have called the object that hit him a meteorite either. It does not become a meteorite until in hits the ground and comes to rest to be found as a rock or chuck of metal in or on the ground. While moving, it's a meteor.
If I knew the weight of the meteorite, and assuming the 30K mph, I could calculate the inertia of the meteor at the time it impacted his hand. However, I doubt the 30K mph figure. While it was probably still faster than the speed of sound (the report says that he heard the sound a split seconds after the impact), which is 671 mph, it was probably still faster than terminal velocity, which should be about 170 - 200 mph, depending on the density of the meteor.
Given that it was found not too deep in the ground and only did minimal damage to the soil, I suspect it is a very light, rocky meteorite and not iron/nickel.
Another article from the UK London Telegraph reports it as "one in a million" that he "survived" the meteor strike. So combining these "statistics" fewer people get hit than survive the strike by a hundred to one. I think these guys are pulling these statistics out of their noses.
All good points (on an old thread, too). But how about this - won’t something moving that fast that grazes you cause a burn from friction alone?
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