The Sylacauga meteorite fell on November 30, 1954, at 12:46 p.m. local time (18:46 UT)
Incident
Impact
The
grapefruit-sized fragment crashed through the roof of a farm house, bounced off a large wooden
radio receiver, and hit Hodges while she napped on a couch.
The 34-year-old woman was badly bruised on one side of her body, but was able to walk and able to take photos showing the fresh wound.
Fireball
The
meteor made a fireball visible from three American states as it streaked through the atmosphere, even though it fell early in the afternoon.
There were also indications of an air blast, as witnesses described hearing "explosions or loud booms".
Following events
The meteorite was confiscated by the Sylacauga police chief, who then turned it over to the United States Air Force.
Both the Hodgeses and their landlord, Bertie Guy, claimed ownership of the rock, Guy's claim being that it had fallen on her property.
The Hodgeses and Guy settled, with the Hodgeses paying $500 for the rock.
However, by the time it was returned to the Hodgeses, over a year later, public attention had diminished, and they were unable to then find a buyer.
Ann Hodges was uncomfortable with the public attention and the stress of the dispute over ownership of the meteorite.
The day after the fall, local farmer Julius McKinney came upon the second-largest fragment from the same meteorite.
Other instances of people being hit by meteorites
The earliest claim of a person being hit by a meteorite comes from 1677 in a manuscript published at
Tortona, Italy, which tells of a
friar who was killed by one, although its veracity is unknown.
The
Tunguska event in 1908 is reported to have caused three casualties.
In 1992, a small meteorite fragment (3g) hit a young Ugandan boy in
Mbale;
it had been slowed by a tree and caused no injury.
On the night of October 3, 2021, a meteorite fell through the roof of a house in Golden, British Columbia, landing on a sleeping woman's pillow, but without harming her.
Fragments
Upon the entry into the
atmosphere, the Sylacauga meteorite fragmented into at least three pieces:
-
The Hodges fragment () – ); struck Ann Elizabeth Hodges.
-
The McKinney fragment () – ); was found the next day December 1, 1954, by Julius Kempis McKinney.
-
A third fragment is believed to have struck the Earth somewhere near Childersburg (a few km northwest of Oak Grove).
Classification
The Sylacauga meteorite is classified as an ordinary chondrite of
H chondrite.
Orbit
The
meteoroid came in on the sunward side of the
Earth, so when it hit, it had passed the
perihelion and was traveling outward from the
Sun. Considering the orbit estimations, the best candidate as
parent body is 1685 Toro.
See also
-
Auckland (meteorite), which crashed through a house in New Zealand
External links
