'Meteorite' Hits Girl

BBC ^ | 8-27-2002

[blam]

Tuesday, 27 August, 2002, 12:27 GMT 13:27 UK

'Meteorite' hits girl

Siobhan Cowton: "I saw it fall from above roof height"

The odds against being hit by a meteorite are billions to one - but a teenager in North Yorkshire may have had one land on her foot. Siobhan Cowton, 14, was getting into the family car outside her Northallerton home at 1030 BST on Thursday when a stone fell on her from the sky.

This does not happen very often in Northallerton

Siobhan Cowton

Noticing it was "quite hot", she showed it to her father Niel.

The family now plan to have the stone analysed by scientists at Durham University.

"I saw it fall from above roof height," Siobhan told BBC News Online.

"It looked very unusual, with a bubbled surface and tiny indentations like volcanic lava.

'Shiny'

"It was shiny on one side and looked rusty as if it contained iron.

"I've seen shooting stars before - but nothing like this. This does not happen very often in Northallerton."

Mr Cowton, 45, told BBC News Online he would take the stone to be analysed himself.

The stone may have come from Mars

"It is not going to leave my sight because it is a very rare find," he said.

"It is worth a lot to Siobhan.

"We will have it mounted in a glass presentation case so she can keep it for the rest of her life.

"After all it is not every day you get hit by a meteorite.

"The odds of winning the Lottery are better."

The stone could have come from Mars, according to expert on Earth impacts Dr Benny Peiser, of Liverpool John Moores University.

"It could be billions of years old and come from the earliest formation of the solar system," he told the Daily Mail newspaper.

Most meteors are between five and 60 centimetres (1.95 in and 1 ft 11.5 in) long, according to Durham University physical geography lecturer Dr Ben Horton.

"Sometimes they have shallow depressions and cavities," he said.

[inquest]

It wouldn't necessarily have caused physical harm. I've seen woodcuts from the nineteenth century showing meteor showers where the meteors were raining onto the ground, with people standing around marveling - and according to the sources I've read, these are accurate depictions, not some artist's tortured imagination.

If the rock's small enough, the atmosphere would have slowed it down, and then cooled it down, enough so that at worst it would have stung her a bit, depending on what kind of shoe she had on.

[Michael Barnes]

Re: #5

Thank you...exactly what I was thinking

[RightWhale]

Seriously, small meteorites slow to terminal velocity before reaching the ground. Certainly subsonic, maybe under 300 mph. Way slower than pistol shots.

[DainBramage]

" More likely its something flushed from a passing British Air flight" said younger brother Eric.

[hang 'em]

Its more likely to be bad airline food.

[ArrogantBustard]

Meteorite impact in Peekskill, NY(?):

[PBRSTREETGANG]

What did George Bush know and when did he know it?

[blam]

"If the rock's small enough, the atmosphere would have slowed it down, and then cooled it down, enough so that at worst it would have stung her a bit, depending on what kind of shoe she had on."

Yup. There was a meteorite (I think in the 50's) that crashed through a woman's roof in Alabama and bruised her (pretty good) on the leg. (I think it was about the size of a fist). "Stars Fell On Alabama" (BTY, That replaced 'Heart Of Dixie' on our tags) Dixie is a bad word now.

[MassExodus]

Certainly subsonic, maybe under 300 mph. Way slower than pistol shots.

Still .... I can hurl a small stone at @ 70 mph.

In all the rock fights I had as a kid, they hurt !

Now, at four TIMES that speed ? - OW !

LOL

[HeadOn]

Children and Poor Next Targets for Right-Wing Stonings.

[RightWhale]

Maybe not even 300 mph. If it were falling flat rather than pointed end first, it would be much slower than 300 mph. She says she saw it before it hit, which indicates a relatively slow speed. Still, if it hit thin skin over bone, it would sting, maybe even bruise.

[shadowman99]

Bellis is approaching!!! 10 days until Bellis!!!

[varon]

"Sometimes they have shallow depressions and cavities," he said.

You mean like these?

[Ben Chad]

You bring back funny-now but not-so-funny-then memories of getting hit above the eye in one of those rock fights we used to have as kids. I also caught a spear (bamboo) in the exact same spot. I got to know the hospital pretty well. LOL

[Black Powder]

I wonder if this may have 'fallen off' the asteroid that just flew by earth. Can we expect more?

The Earth picks up about 100 tons of dust/debris from space each day, so this is not a big deal. The girl happened to be lucky that day.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Wait a minute, I thought a penny dropped from the top of the Empire State Building would go through a taxicab roof. Wonder if that "meteorite" has the fingerprints on it of the neighborhood rock-thrower?

[inquest]

Plus, the thing looks pretty porous and light (and small, for that matter), which would have both increased wind resistance and decreased whatever punch it had.

[Textide]

I remember doing a calculation while in High School of the speed of a penny if dropped from the top of the Empire State building. We were given a coefficient that was plugged into the formula that was supposed to take into account the spinning of the penny and the drag that would occur as a result. Terminal velocity ended up being about 22mph if I remember correctly - hardly what you'd think it'd be.

I imagine the same could hold true for a space rock like this.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Yup. There was a meteorite (I think in the 50's) that crashed through a woman's roof in Alabama and bruised her (pretty good) on the leg.

The key word here is roof. The roof probably absorbed much of the energy, otherwise, she very possibly could have been killed......

Again, it's my opinion that this young lady should of had serious injuries to her foot. If this is legitimate, she is a very lucky youngster..... Even at 300 mph, meteorites are generally heavy with iron content......This should have done major injury to her foot....

[Sloth]

Haven't any of you guys ever heard of terminal velocity?