The Benld meteorite: An ordinary space rock that slammed into a car

Astronomy ^ | 18 Sep, 2020 | David Boehnlein

[MtnClimber]

What are the odds of a meteorite striking your vehicle? In 1938, one unlucky Illinois resident found out.

Edward McCain of Benld, Illinois, drove a decade-old Pontiac coupe that he kept safely stored in his garage, which was a small wooden building with a tar paper roof. Well-worn ruts in the dirt floor marked the exact spot where he parked his car every day for years. Then, on September 29, 1938, by sheer cosmic chance, a speeding space rock tore through the roof of McCain's garage before burrowing itself into his Pontiac.

That same year, Ben Hur Wilson of the Joliet Astronomical Society poetically reported in Popular Astronomy that “a small stony-iron meteorite came crashing out of the battlements of heaven, aimed apparently with the precision of a crack artilleryman.”

The cosmic cannonball not only tore through the roof, seat, and floor of McCain's car — which he was fortunately not in at the time — but also rebounded off the Pontiac's muffler before bouncing back up into the springs of the seat. As you can imagine, McCain was quite astonished to discover the meteorite when he hopped in his car later that same day.

Investigating the fall Wilson first heard of the event from a radio broadcast two days later. He wanted to investigate — it was only the second recorded meteorite fall in Illinois — but the story seemed incredible, in the truest sense of the word.

Fearing a hoax, Wilson and fellow Astronomical Society member Frank M. Preucil nonetheless sent inquiries to Benld. They received replies from McCain and the principal of the local high school assuring them that the meteorite was genuine.

A few weeks later, Wilson made the 200-mile (322 kilometers) drive to Benld, where McCain showed him the object.

[MtnClimber]

Edward McCain's damaged car seat and dented muffler, now on display at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History.

[MtnClimber]

This small, seemingly innocuous object is the Benld meteorite, which on September 29, 1938, punched a hole through Edward McCain's garage and car — then bounced back up to rest neatly on the car seat.

[MtnClimber]

This slice of the North West Africa 3189 meteorite, which measures about 0.8 inch across, shows chrondrules, which are round mineral inclusions that appear in meteorites classified as chondrites. The Benld meteorite is classified as an ordinary H-chondrite.

[MtnClimber]

This illustration, which is part of the Field Museum's display on the Benld meteorite, shows the trajectory of the space rock as it came down through McCain's garage roof and into his car.

[dfwgator]

That’ll buff right out.

[MtnClimber]

An interesting astronomy article.

[JustaCowgirl]

Wouldn’t that be so 2020. Your car is sitting in the garage and it gets slammed by a meteorite from space.

[Buckeye McFrog]

....and we covered it.......We Are Farmers....bum de bum bum bum da bum.....

[Buckeye McFrog]

Wouldn’t that be so 2020. Your car is sitting in the garage and it gets slammed by a meteorite from space.

2020 would be Elena Kagan walking out of a Panera Bread store in D.C. and getting slammed by a meteorite from space.

[wbarmy]

That was a perfect response and Farmers Insurance really should add that to their repertoire of TV ads.

[steveo]

Joe Dirt’s space poopy

[Fungi]

It came out of the sky, Creedence Clearwater Revival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=15&v=zwAcvIZzuM0&feature=emb_logo

[C210N]

Ann Hodges, 1954, Alabama

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks MtnClimber.

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[SunkenCiv]

And in the lifetime of most of us here, there was the Peekskill meteorite that cratered Michele Knapp's car.

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  Astronomy Picture of the Day 11-18-02

  11/18/2002 3:44:58 AM PST · by petuniasevan · 3 replies · 2,189+ views

  NASA ^ | 11-18-02 | Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell

  Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 November 18 The Car, the Hole, and the Peekskill Meteorite Credit & Copyright: Pierre Thomas (LST), ENS Lyon Explanation: The Peekskill meteor of 1992 was captured on 16 independent videos and then struck a car. Documented as brighter than the full Moon, the spectacular fireball crossed parts of several US states during its 40 seconds of glory before landing in Peekskill, New York. The resulting meteorite, pictured here,...

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[BenLurkin]

Perfect

[rdl6989]

Ouch.

[diatomite]

I saw that seat and muffler display when I was a kid. It made quite an impression on me. Afterwards I was hoping that one would smack my dad’s garage so I could add a meteorite to my rock collection.

[TXnMA]

I recall that, in 1954, a woman in Alabama was hit by a meteorite -- while she was taking a nap. Life Magazine carried the photo of her bruised hip:

There were numerous articles about it at the time...

Meteorite strikes Alabama woman

TXnMA