Officials confirm meteorite hit Wolcott home

Originally posted by WielderOfTheSwordOfTruth
Something like this happened to my Grandfather a few years ago, though it didn't hit his house it landed in the front lawn. He went outside one day and saw his manicured lawn all torn up, there was about a 2 meter long area of grass that was just all peeled back, which indicates the meteorite came in the quite a low angle. Anyway he began digging around in the hole and found a baseball sized rock, which we all later agreed it must be a meteorite.

I hate to disappoint you, but from your description, it's extremely unlikely that what your Grandfather dug up was a meteorite.

Meteorites simply do not impact the ground at extremely low angles unless they are extremely large. This is because of air-resistance which slows smaller objects down at high altitudes (small objects very quickly loose their momentum), and once slowed down the object's trajectory becomes like a ballistic trajectory as momentum is overcome by air-resistance and gravity.

If it was a meteorite, it would have had to retain much of it's cosmic speed to a very low altitude (less that 10-15km), and at these kinds of altitudes it's improbable that it would not have been noticed by many others in your area - sonic-booms, rumbling, windows/houses shaking would be unavoidable, and experienced by people for miles around!

It's much more likely that the rock your Grandfather dug up has a terrestrial origin - perhaps from blasting at a near-by quarry. But don't take my word for it - send a small sample to a museum/university for testing.

At the very least check out the relevant parts of The American Meteor Society Fireball FAQs and you will see that what I'm saying is correct.

reply to post by FireballStorm


Well you seem to know more about than we do I guess, we mainly came to our conclusion based on the hole and the way the grass peeled back, we couldn't think of any other possible way it could have happened like that unless it fell from very high at a very high speed. I suppose the angle may not have been as low as we thought, but the hole was longer than it was deep.

The other reason was the appearance of the rock, very porous and smooth(no sharp edges). It's definitely not from a quarry or any blasting, I really can't think of any other way it could have happened unless it was an elaborate hoax, which I highly doubt. The rock currently sits on a self at my parents cottage, I doubt they care enough to take it to be tested.

reply to post by WielderOfTheSwordOfTruth

The only way to ensure it was a meteorite is to get it tested. Some universities can get it tested for free, and there are labs that charge $10 to $25 (Like New England Meteoritical Society). The difference between a mantle piece ornament and a few thousand bucks is quite obvious. Also, see if it is is attracted to a magnet, and if it was indeed a fall like you suggest, it should be solid black, as this is fusion crust from atmospheric ablation. I doubt the steep trajectory story, as it would mean speed above terminal velocity. which usually results in a crater.

reply to post by WielderOfTheSwordOfTruth


A long hole certainly does suggest a low angle, and a bit of a mystery if it's not a meteorite.

Lack of sharp edges may well suggest a meteorite, but meteorites are never porous. Instead, they often have depressions which resemble "thumbprints" and are known as regmaglypts (scroll down to the bottom where there are a couple of links that will aid you in identification) and/or "flow-lines".

Perhaps an elaborate hoax is a long shot (excuse the pun!), but there are sure to be other possibilities - perhaps a careless neighbor experimenting with a giant catapult or something along those lines. You mentioned a "cottage", which suggests the countryside - maybe farm machinery kicked up a large pebble. I can't really think of anything else, but without knowing more about what is around the area the property is in, there is always the possibility of overlooking more obvious possibilities.