Something strange happened yesterday.

Thanks to those with the helpful replies. I have spent several hours out there today. Cleared grass and leaves. Used a weed eater as gently as I could. Gently raked. Used magnets. Visually I see nothing. No impacts in the ground that stand out. Did not see any bullets. Magnets clicked on a roofing staple, an old rusty, muddy bolt and screw that I did not see before hand. But I am ruling them out. They have probably been here longer than me and I've lived here for 20 years.

I keep looking at the hole in the car port and the way the metal curls/bends to guestimate the angle of trajectory. And then expanding the search area in case it came in from the SW instead of just the south. It's possible. It is possible that it could have hit something and deflected. There is a utility pole there but doesn't look like it had been hit. Surely that would have left a mark.

I didn't say in the op but it wasn't just a bang that I heard. It is hard to describe because this was all in like a second. And I cannot remember if the other noise I heard was before the impact or after. I think it was before. I think the sound was the object going thru the air at a high velocity. Some of you may know what I am talking about. Like a sssssss or a sizzle.

I do not know. I am stumped. Maybe the poster above is right. Maybe it was ice? Maybe the object melted. Or, I could have walked over it 5 dozen times by now and didn't even know it.

If I find anything I will let you all know. Again, I appreciate the helpful comments.

Do you live near an airport? You’d be surprised on how often things fall off aircraft, screws, nuts and bolts, wheels, parts, tools, etc. ohh and pee bottles, all mainly from small airplanes.

a reply to: 38181

Less than 10 miles to the small local air port.

a reply to: Blueracer

A few years back I was working alone on a saturday in the CNC shop I am at. I saw something small on the floor and picked up a bullet laying there, looking up at the ceiling there was a small hole in our sheet metal roof. I am assuming someone fired up in the air and it came down in my shop. I was surprised a round could have that much velocity falling but apparently it did.

I would look for a fragmented .40 or .45 round. Small chunks of metal etc. I'd measure where the two curls in the metal have about the same amount of "fold" at a 45* angle toward the ground. Look for a small concave mound in the gravel, and follow the direction of the high side. If the casings are FMJ, you might be able to snag some of that on the magnet. If not, you will probably not find much of anything.

Also, could've been hail or something like that, but I am a lot more inclined to believe someone fired a round from their hand gun up into the air, and the round came down with a lot of love.

originally posted by: Blueracer
a reply to: JHumm

Ricochet of a bullet? No metal detector.

if you have a smartphone or a tablet you can download a free metal detector App.

a reply to: Blueracer

You got alien annally-probed dude, check you ass*ole for any signs of tear and pain. Come on man, get real..!!

While your suspicion of being a target of directed-energy weapons is valid to justify your concern, I'm sure it was just some stupid kids being stupid kids. Relax pal..!!

a reply to: Blueracer

Hey ya'll, Sheet Metal Worker here. I have experience working with metal of all types, hvac, fabrication, and architectural. In my opinion something hit that roof panel very hard with a lot of force, and had some sort of edge or sharp corner to produce that "tear" effect. Im from the Dayton, OH area and got to see a lot of damage that was the result of the multiple tornados that touched down last memorial day. I had mainly only hail damage in my area, and golf ball sized hail couldn't tear through aluminum siding, just would have dented the hell out of it. So, especially if the roof is on a pitch, like 30-80 degrees, and if the object was round enough it would have ricocheted, dented the roof, and landed on the ground or close by if it wasn't obliterated on impact.
The close up pictures you took, remind me a lot of what happens when you have fan blade or other steel/heavy plastic part of machinery with serious momentum that hit lighter gauge sheet metal, you usually get that flower pedal sort of peal back effect.
A rifle or large handgun round, in my opinion, that had any serious momentum would of punched a 'perfect hole" so to speak in the metal panel.
Just my two cents!

Edit: Also the tumbling effect of a large round fired by a gun close by could definitely produce this effect, like others mentioned, if the impact was right. Still seems like an oddly large opening for that though.


Edit: Also Teenagers. Especially ones smart enough to clean up the evidence haha

originally posted by: johnnybrown4792

originally posted by: Blueracer
a reply to: JHumm

Ricochet of a bullet? No metal detector.

if you have a smartphone or a tablet you can download a free metal detector App.

Ok I totally thought this was a joke, but again smartphones are just that...wow!


To the OP not a bad idea. Also look up the strength of your metal roof if you can to see what kind of force it would take to puncture it and you can rule out falling objects as they can only reach a certain speed or would need to have more mass to create the hole.

a reply to: JHumm

Definitely came from above...Maybe a small part fell off an airplane, or UFO...Was a vehicle parked there??? Any damage to the vehicle???

a reply to: Iscool

My vehicle was under the car port. Luckily my vehicle was not hit.

Here is an overhead view of things for anyone who may be interested in more information:



The red circle is the approximate location of the hole. The green arrow is the direction I thought it came from, the south. The green line is from the SW. Either is possible. Hard to tell exactly with the way the metal curls. The red triangle was the main search area I focused on. But I have searched over the whole area, outside of the triangle as well.

I was approximately 50' away. My vehicle is approximately 2' away from the hole.

Get a nice fat Magnet and grid out the area follow the bounce trajectory but search the whole area also . My bet is Meteorite


Edit : If that thing came through at that speed there will be a mark on the ground could be small depending on the velocity it hit the roof .

I would go with meteorite as well. The rock will be black, but may have fragmented, depending upon its composition. You need to scan the entire interior with a rare-earth magnet and see if you can pick up pieces. Also, it is possible that there are other pieces on or near your property.

If you find it, it will be a "hammer stone", making it much more valuable. Good Luck.

Also, The Eta Aquarids meteor shower peaked in the early hours of Tuesday, May 5. Remnants of comet Halley.
In the extremely remote chance that this object came from that, it would be extremely friable material, like a carbonaceous chondrite, with possibly very little metal content. A piece of Halley and a hammer stone? Cha Ching.

a reply to: RicketyCricket

Also, could've been hail or something like that, but I am a lot more inclined to believe someone fired a round from their hand gun up into the air, and the round came down with a lot of love.

That is what I wonder as well. A firearm shot into the sky. Projectile would arc and come down. Depending on the amount of gunpowder in the cartridge, it could travel a distance.

Cheers

a reply to: Blueracer

Like several others have already suggested my first bet would be a bullet. It'd be very difficult to find in all that gravel. People shoot guns in the air with no regard to where it may land. Shooting straight up in the air isn't all that dangerous, but shooting at a 45 degree angle can still kill. Certainly it could rip a hole like that.

a reply to: Blueracer

Maybe this was mentioned, maybe not. But a bullet wouldn't be a piece of lead all the time. Many rounds are jacketed so you'd see copper plating surrounding the lead which would be shiny. Or you might find a fragment. If it was a bullet based on the hole shape it looks like it would have been tumbling.

a reply to: charlyv

That would be worth getting on your hands and knees and individually examining each stone in the driveway.