Fist-size space rock crashed through roof of Lorton doctors' office

Meteorite hunters converge on area after fall in Va.
Fist-size space rock crashed through roof of Lorton doctors' office

Meteorite hunters are descending on Washington's Virginia suburbs this week, drawn by news of a space rock that lit up the night sky on Monday and drilled through the roof of a Lorton doctors' office.

Steve Arnold, co-star of the Science Channel's TV series "Meteorite Men," grabbed an early-morning flight Thursday from Arkansas to Baltimore to launch a search for fragments of the meteor.

SOURCE:

Ok, this is just cool...

Can you imagine this happening to you at work?

Actually I wouldn't mind a hole in my roof that much if a meteorite made it. Hope it doesn't hit me though. Hell of a karma catcher.

reply to post by YourPopRock


At work or at home, it wouldn't really matter... I just wish we would get one round this way!

There is already a thread about this story here:
Lorton Meteorite, The Fourth Observed To Fall In Virginia

Good catch and thanks for posting anyway though

In gem/mineral/rockhound world, those things bring a really good chunk of change. Collectors love them. I wouldn't mind having one fall on my property at all. It would pay for itself. The bigger the better.

Now, would your basic insurance handle this?

That would be an interesting claim to make...

reply to post by YourPopRock

Nope. Unless you had a meteor rider.
Act of God.

How much can you sell a meteorite for anyway?

(eBay?)

reply to post by YourPopRock


It varies depending on the type. Some rare meteorites can be stupidly expensive. Meteorites from Mars and the Moon are the most sought after I believe.

Here are some links - have a browse

METEORITES FOR SALE

Meteorite Dealers List

I'm sure you can find them on ebay too. Some will not cost much if you buy a small quantity. Buyer beware though - as with anything, check around to make sure you are getting a good deal.

As much as I would like to buy one, it would be so much easier if one would just land in my backyard (not a large crater-creating type, just a nice collectable that I could have Stephen Hawking sign like a baseball.

I used to live in New Orleans, and I remember this happening there also in 2003.

This one really blew me away last year.

German boy hit by meteorite - Lives to tell about it

That is so crazy... what are the odds of being hit by a meteorite?

I wonder how often people are killed by being hit by them?

reply to post by YourPopRock

what are the odds of being hit by a meteorite?

I'm not sure exactly, but it's not very likely. In this case, the boy was likely playing a prank, since his story is not consistent with how a real meteorite would behave. You can find some discussion on the subject here.

I wonder how often people are killed by being hit by them?

There has not been a single confirmed case in modern history as far as I'm aware. I don't think that there is any doubt that people have died in the past, perhaps from small falls like the one that is the subject of this topic, but it's more likely that more have died from large scale events like this one:

Clay tablet sheds new light on ancient asteroid "impact" in Köfels, Austria

I do remember one theory that said that very early on, man's population may have been decimated by a large impact, and most people today can be traced back to an "Eve" who was thought to be one of the few survivors. The great grandmother of us all in effect.

I can't remember if an impact was ever proved to be a likely cause.

Keep in mind, without impacts we probably would not be here, since they probably delivered most of our water, and possibly even the first organic molecules which may have been the precursors to life, so they are not all bad.

How many of these do you think go un-noticed in urban areas?

I bet it is more than we realize! :-)

Originally posted by timewalker
I used to live in New Orleans, and I remember this happening there also in 2003.

This one really blew me away last year.

German boy hit by meteorite - Lives to tell about it

That story is garbage. The meteorite hit him, and then smashed into the ground causing a 1 foot wide crater? And I can guarantee it wasnt traveling at 30,000 mph when it hit him.

Anyways back on topic. This would be extremely cool and you could probably make quite a bit of money off this if it were to happen to you. There was a story of a guy who had a car that was hit by a meteorite and then turned around and sold the car ( a POS I believe) for a large sum of money (50 grand I think?). I believe he also sold the meteorite for quite a bit also.

If it was me I'd much prefer to study the meteorite and then eventually get it framed and put on my desk.

reply to post by YourPopRock


You are quite correct... in fact there are probably meteorites within 10 or 20 feet of where you are sitting, although not perhaps exactly what/where you might expect... try checking your gutter for them!

If you want to find larger ones, look in areas where they would stand out... large and very flat areas... keep your eyes open and you never know what you may find. Usually where there is one, there will be more, since many meteorites explode at high altitude, showering the ground with small pieces. Most people would not recognize meteorites, and so it's possible that they could sit unnoticed even in a busy area.

My advice would be that you learn to recognize what they look like so you can tell them apart from ordinary terrestrial rocks.

If it was blue in color and looked like ice, I can bet it wasn't a space rock.

Originally posted by C.H.U.D.
reply to post by YourPopRock

 

You are quite correct... in fact there are probably meteorites within 10 or 20 feet of where you are sitting, although not perhaps exactly what/where you might expect... try checking your gutter for them!

If you want to find larger ones, look in areas where they would stand out... large and very flat areas... keep your eyes open and you never know what you may find. Usually where there is one, there will be more, since many meteorites explode at high altitude, showering the ground with small pieces. Most people would not recognize meteorites, and so it's possible that they could sit unnoticed even in a busy area.

My advice would be that you learn to recognize what they look like so you can tell them apart from ordinary terrestrial rocks.

OMG! I am so totally going to do the gutter trick! My gutters are aluminum... so a magnet should work well!

Here in Minnesota we have a lot of flat areas and a lot of frozen areas too... might be worth giving that a try!

Best place to find meteorites is Antarctica. Will need some serious funding to go on that hunt

Originally posted by cowboys703
Best place to find meteorites is Antarctica. Will need some serious funding to go on that hunt

Well, weather-wise, Minnesota isn't all that different from antartica, lol.

Is a magnet in my gutters really the best way to find meteorites in my area? And how would I know if I was looking at one?

Originally posted by cowboys703

Originally posted by timewalker
I used to live in New Orleans, and I remember this happening there also in 2003.

This one really blew me away last year.

German boy hit by meteorite - Lives to tell about it

That story is garbage. The meteorite hit him, and then smashed into the ground causing a 1 foot wide crater? And I can guarantee it wasnt traveling at 30,000 mph when it hit him.

It may have been traveling at 30,000 mph (or more) when it hit the atmosphere, but small to medium-sized meteors slow down considerably once they interact with our atmosphere (although the really big ones don't).

most meteors that make it to the ground are slowed down to their terminal velocity, which would be about 240 mph (384 kph).

I suppose that could still kill a person, depending on what part of the body was struck, and also depending on whether the meteor was further slowed by a tree or a building roof. The German boy in the article may have even been hit by post-impact debris.

Source Article - Meteoroid Terminal Velocity

Here's an excerpt:

Meteoroids start out at a sizzling 7 to 44 miles per second relative to Earth. Fortunately, if the meteoroid weighs less than 8 tons — and nearly all of them do — air friction robs it of ALL its original speed. At a height of about 10 miles or 50,000 feet, it slows to just 2 or 3 miles per second, where it no longer glows. Nonetheless this 7,000 mph velocity, 3 to 6 times faster than a bullet, gives a one-pound meteor enough kinetic energy to easily destroy a jetliner. It hasn’t yet happened, but it could.

Continuing downward, now dark and unobservable, the meteoroid’s encounter with increasingly thick air slows it to a terminal velocity of about 240 mph. This is its final speed as it strikes the ground. That’s the speed at which nearly all meteorites land, plus or minus 20%. That’s still plenty fast - usually enough to pierce a roof and end up on the floor of some room. Buildings are penetrated every year or two in North America alone. Just since 2002, meteors have entered seven homes including two in the United States.

If the meteoroid weighs over 100,000 tons, our atmosphere won’t slow it down in the slightest: It slams into the ground at full cosmic velocity. This isn’t good, as the dinosaurs learned 65 million years ago...

[edit on 1/28/2010 by Box of Rain]