Meteorite wrecks houses in India

bbc ^

[scotslad]

At least 20 people are reported to have been injured after a meteorite crashed to Earth in eastern India. Reports say hundreds of people in the state of Orissa panicked when the fireball streamed across the sky.

Burning fragments were said to have fallen over a wide area, destroying several houses.

An official in Orissa said the authorities were assessing the damage and trying to recover what was left of the meteor.

Reports from Orissa said windows rattled as the meteor passed overhead.

"It was all there for just a few seconds but it was like daylight everywhere," one resident said.

Rarity

Experts estimate about 100 tons of extraterrestrial dust grains fall to earth each day.

Occasionally, a dark pebble or fist-size object will rain down, with boulder-sized objects or bigger being a historical rarity.

The only recorded fatality from a meteor was an Egyptian dog that had the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in 1911.

Seven decades later, scientists recognised the dog had been struck by a meteorite from Mars.

[null and void]

Wasn't there that one blast over the skies of New Guniea that duplicated a 10 kilton atomic explosion in 1991?

IIRC, it was on the same lattiude as Iraq, a few hours later and it could have been mistaken for an nuclear weapon during Gulf War I. Several fisherman were flashburned...

[Cronos]

That's too much like a Talibani thought -- God punished the infidels. Remember, the Talibs probably think the same each time we get a typhoon/cyclone/earthquake/fire etc. These aren't the works of God, God is not petty like us humans.

[Cronos]

The jobs were going since Clintack times, they're not a Bush payoff no matter how much the Dem's scream about that. India won't send troops because we've got too many armchari generals still stuck in a Cold War mindset considering the chicoms and slamofascists as our allies. Well, what did that get us? 911.

[Cronos]

I see too much of this blame going on Bush for the mistakes which Clintack made. Clinty was lucky enough to ride the wave started by bushI and he mucked it up and Bush II is facing the problems clinty created.

[Darksheare]

OKay.. so I DID do all of that.
But hey, we're all still alive and I didn't blot out of existence anything of extreme importance to the timestream.

[TigersEye]

An official in Orissa said the authorities were assessing the damage and trying to recover what was left of the meteor.

Of course they were. Collectors pay big bucks for meteorites and newly fallen ones fetch the most. Think the injured parties will get in on it?

[IndianChief]

The BBC has a new report just in, with an amazing pic

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3149404.stm

Officials investigating a meteorite that crashed in eastern India say it was part of the most spectacular meteor shower in the country's recent history.

Witnesses say the meteor lit up the night sky "like daylight" Flaming debris from the space rock lit up the sky in Orissa state on Saturday night, and sent villagers running after its burning fragments set fire to their houses.

"I have never seen a meteor covering such a large area with a huge fireball and roaring sound," said Basant Kumar Mohanty, senior director of the Geological Survey of India.

According to state authorities, two large fragments of the meteorite, weighing roughly five kilograms each, have been recovered.

Shock

Meanwhile, locals in Orissa have been describing what they saw.

"I first mistook it for... a crashing aircraft, when I saw the huge fireball with so much bright light," said Bandita Das, a housewife.

"For about 10 seconds, the evening on Saturday got lighted up. I panicked and took my kids inside the house."

Bishwa Bhushan Harichandan, a minister in Orissa's state government, told the BBC the fireball was seen by people in "seven to eight districts, covering about 14,000 to 15,000 square kilometres".

He said only three people had been injured as a result of the meteorite falling to earth. Earlier reports said at least 20 people had been hurt.

An old man receiving treatment in hospital is also reported to have died of shock on seeing the meteor.

The people of Orissa are familiar with cyclones and floods, and according to correspondents, they feel Saturday's meteor shower has added a new threat to their lives.

Scientists say, however, the risk of being killed by a falling meteorite is not worth worrying about.

[grannie9]

Any time something is bent or warped, you can bet your bottom dollar that you are somewhere nearby..

You are the plague of the universe....

So............how ya been dude? Anything else new?

[Darksheare]

Nothing much going on at the moment.
Just got my car broke.
Again.
*chuckle*

We're seeing the effects of the warpage I created now, as evidenced by poor Sharks in the DD thread.