Boy Hit by Meteorite

[one...two...tree 2,762]

space.com

A 14-year old German boy was hit in the hand by a pea-sized meteorite that scared the bejeezus out of him and left a scar.

"When it hit me it knocked me flying and then was still going fast enough to bury itself into the road," Gerrit Blank said in a newspaper account. Astronomers have analyzed the object and conclude it was indeed a natural object from space, The Telegraph reports.

Most meteors vaporize in the atmosphere, creating "shooting stars," and never reach the ground. The few that do are typically made mostly of metals. Stony space rocks, even if they are big as a car, will usually break apart or explode as they crash through the atmosphere.

There are a handful of reports of homes and cars being struck by meteorites, and many cases of space rocks streaking to the surface and being found later.

But human strikes are rare. There are no known instances of humans being killed by space rocks.

According to a SPACE.com article on the topic a few years, back:

• On November 30, 1954, Alabama housewife Ann Hodges was taking a nap on her couch when she was awakened by a 3-pound (1.4-kilogram) meteor that crashed through the roof of her house, bounced off a piece of furniture and struck her in the hip, causing a large bruise.
• On October 9, 1992, a large fireball was seen streaking over the eastern United States, finally exploding into many pieces. In Peekskill, New York, one of the pieces struck a Chevrolet automobile owned by Michelle Knapp. Knapp was not in the car at the time.
• On June 21, 1994, Jose Martin of Spain was driving with his wife near Madrid when a 3-pound (1.4-kilogram) meteor crashed through his windshield, bent the steering wheel and ended up in the back seat.

In 2004, a 2,000-pound space rock bigger than a refrigerator exploded in the late-night sky over Chicago, producing a large flash and a sound resembling a detonation that woke people up. Fragments rained down on that wild Chicago night, and many were collected by residents in a northern suburb.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20090612/sc_...yhitbymeteorite

[Marina-Del 10]

Totally unrelated, but the fact that the boy was scared so much when it hit him reminds me of something that happened to me. After I moved back from London, my parents were driving me home from the airport (in Georgia). We were in our mini-van because my brothers had come too (I'd been gone for 3 years). Anyway, on the way home some stupid kids threw a rock into our side window while we were driving. The window shattered into hundreds of pieces and the rock hit me in the side of the neck. The combination of the rocks, scattered glass (which got all over us) and the loud bang of the window made me think I'd gotten shot. It was very scary. Right after it happened I just kept saying, I'm bleeding from my neck! My neck is bleeding. It took a while for me to calm down and realize that my next in fact wasn't bleeding.

Again, totally unrelated, but rocks "falling" out of no one and hitting you is scary!

[Nagishkaw 510]

0h snap!

[TimandJoyce 1]

Well....he's going to have an interesting story to tell his children...

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Totally unrelated, but the fact that the boy was scared so much when it hit him reminds me of something that happened to me. After I moved back from London, my parents were driving me home from the airport (in Georgia). We were in our mini-van because my brothers had come too (I'd been gone for 3 years). Anyway, on the way home some stupid kids threw a rock into our side window while we were driving. The window shattered into hundreds of pieces and the rock hit me in the side of the neck. The combination of the rocks, scattered glass (which got all over us) and the loud bang of the window made me think I'd gotten shot. It was very scary. Right after it happened I just kept saying, I'm bleeding from my neck! My neck is bleeding. It took a while for me to calm down and realize that my next in fact wasn't bleeding.

Again, totally unrelated, but rocks "falling" out of no one and hitting you is scary!

Oh man. Did you Dad stop the car and try to nab the kids?

[Marina-Del 10]

Oh man. Did you Dad stop the car and try to nab the kids?

My mom was driving actually, dad in the front seat, me and my brother in the middle seats (where most of the glass went) and my other brother in the back. He was mostly saved. My mom did amazing actually. It was dark outside so we couldn't see anything. She screamed #######?! And swerved a bit, but we were on a busy highway, so it was impressive that she didn't wreck the car (and thank God it hit me and not her or then we really would have been in trouble!). So after she got the car under control she pulled over and we figured out what happened and called the cops. We only assume it was kids because who else would it have been? Like I said, it was dark and we were driving on the highway. We had just gone under a bridge when it happened. When the cop got there he took the rock that had been thrown as evidence and told us that the week before the same thing had happened but that it has hit the wife of the driver (of a truck) and she was in the hospital still!!! He said they looked for the kids (assuming again) before, but couldn't find anything but some four wheeler tracks. They were going to put articles in the local paper about how we had gotten hurt and how the truck drivers wife was in the hospital with the hope that the kids would see it and understand that what they did was not cool. We were covered in glass, AND I have a scar. I was bleeding a little bit, but only a little. At first I though I was literally gushing blood and was going to die or something. I thought I'd been shot!

Ps. It extra sucked because we were on the way to visit my grandparents and because of this accident I didn't get to see them until the next day. At this point I just wanted to take a shower to get the glass off of me! Three days later my grandfather died, so if that hadn't happened I would have gotten to see him one more time! I did see him lots over the next three days, but still...I would have gotten one more time!

[JimandChristy 1,689]

Interesting, I wonder if Health Insurance companies cover you for any injuries due to a meteorite strike?

[spookyturtle 9,466]

I call bs. On the meteorite.

Edited June 12, 2009 by spookyturtle

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Oh man. Did you Dad stop the car and try to nab the kids?

My mom was driving actually, dad in the front seat, me and my brother in the middle seats (where most of the glass went) and my other brother in the back. He was mostly saved. My mom did amazing actually. It was dark outside so we couldn't see anything. She screamed #######?! And swerved a bit, but we were on a busy highway, so it was impressive that she didn't wreck the car (and thank God it hit me and not her or then we really would have been in trouble!). So after she got the car under control she pulled over and we figured out what happened and called the cops. We only assume it was kids because who else would it have been? Like I said, it was dark and we were driving on the highway. We had just gone under a bridge when it happened. When the cop got there he took the rock that had been thrown as evidence and told us that the week before the same thing had happened but that it has hit the wife of the driver (of a truck) and she was in the hospital still!!! He said they looked for the kids (assuming again) before, but couldn't find anything but some four wheeler tracks. They were going to put articles in the local paper about how we had gotten hurt and how the truck drivers wife was in the hospital with the hope that the kids would see it and understand that what they did was not cool. We were covered in glass, AND I have a scar. I was bleeding a little bit, but only a little. At first I though I was literally gushing blood and was going to die or something. I thought I'd been shot!

Ps. It extra sucked because we were on the way to visit my grandparents and because of this accident I didn't get to see them until the next day. At this point I just wanted to take a shower to get the glass off of me! Three days later my grandfather died, so if that hadn't happened I would have gotten to see him one more time! I did see him lots over the next three days, but still...I would have gotten one more time!

Oh man. Some money would be put to good use to send the message out to young kids, the dangers of throwing rocks at moving cars and the consequences. I remember when I was maybe 4 or 5, an older kid in the neighborhood was pitching rocks at cars that would pass by. I didn't know any better and I copied him. Luckily, all it took was one driver, a woman to get out of her car and scold us.

[Marina-Del 10]

Seriously, people should not throw rocks at moving cars. People die! I was lucky I only got a neck scar...which for like 2 months looked like a permanent hickey.

[mawilson 2,133]

Interesting, I wonder if Health Insurance companies cover you for any injuries due to a meteorite strike?

You are seriously obsessed. Just go and buy the damn health insurance like the rest of us and stop

bitching about how horrible the US system is.

[JimandChristy 1,689]

Interesting, I wonder if Health Insurance companies cover you for any injuries due to a meteorite strike?

You are seriously obsessed. Just go and buy the damn health insurance like the rest of us and stop

bitching about how horrible the US system is.

I'll buy it when I'm ready to buy it.....fingers crossed a reform bill will come into play and my money will no longer go into the hands of greedy corporations who want to make money off other people's suffering and illness. Happy now?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Interesting. I wonder if mawilson's insurance covers him if JimChristy throws a shoe at him?

[JimandChristy 1,689]

Interesting. I wonder if mawilson's insurance covers him if JimChristy throws a shoe at him?

I wonder if mawilson's reflexes are as good as George Bush's? Seriously though, there was a thread started about health care so I contributed to the debate......it is at this moment in time probably the 2nd biggest issue in the USA now right after the economy.

[mawilson 2,133]

Interesting, I wonder if Health Insurance companies cover you for any injuries due to a meteorite strike?

You are seriously obsessed. Just go and buy the damn health insurance like the rest of us and stop

bitching about how horrible the US system is.

I'll buy it when I'm ready to buy it.....fingers crossed a reform bill will come into play and my money will no longer go into the hands of greedy corporations who want to make money off other people's suffering and illness. Happy now?

I'd rather my money went to greedy corporations than lazy deadbeats who are sponging off of everyone else's labor.

Happy now?