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14-Year-Old Hit By 30,000 mph Space Meteorite

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Bianca
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« on: June 12, 2009, 10:56:10 am »



Gerrit Blank survived a direct hit by a meteorite
as it hurtled to Earth at more than 30,000 mph









                                       14-year-old hit by 30,000 mph space meteorite



               A schoolboy has survived a direct hit by a meteorite after it fell to earth at 30,000mph.
 





Published: 12 Jun 2009
Telegraph.co.uk

Gerrit Blank, 14, was on his way to school when he saw "ball of light" heading straight towards him from
the sky.

A red hot, pea-sized piece of rock then hit his hand before bouncing off and causing a foot wide crater
in the ground.

The teenager survived the strike, the chances of which are just 1 in a million - but with a nasty three-
inch long scar on his hand.

He said: "At first I just saw a large ball of light, and then I suddenly felt a pain in my hand.

"Then a split second after that there was an enormous bang like a crash of thunder."

"The noise that came after the flash of light was so loud that my ears were ringing for hours afterwards.

"When it hit me it knocked me flying and then was still going fast enough to bury itself into the road," he explained.

Scientists are now studying the pea-sized meteorite which crashed to Earth in Essen, Germany.

"I am really keen on science and my teachers discovered that the fragment is really magnetic," said Gerrit.

Chemical tests on the rock have proved it had fallen from space.

Ansgar Kortem, director of Germany's Walter Hohmann Observatory, said: "It's a real meteorite, therefore
it is very valuable to collectors and scientists.

"Most don't actually make it to ground level because they evaporate in the atmosphere. Of those that do
get through, about six out of every seven of them land in water," he added.

The only other known example of a human being surviving a meteor strike happened in Alabama, USA, in November 1954 when a grapefruit-sized fragment crashed through the roof of a house, bounced off furniture and landed on a sleeping woman.
« Last Edit: June 12, 2009, 11:00:50 am by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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Bianca
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« Reply #1 on: June 12, 2009, 11:03:01 am »










                                                          Boy Hit by Meteorite
           





SPACE.com
Space.com Staff
June 12, 2009

A 14-year old German boy was hit in the hand by a pea-sized meteorite that scared the bejeezus out of him and left a scar.


"When it hit me it knocked me flying and then was still going fast enough to bury itself into the road," Gerrit Blank said in a newspaper account. Astronomers have analyzed the object and conclude it was indeed a natural object from space, The Telegraph reports.


Most meteors vaporize in the atmosphere, creating "shooting stars," and never reach the ground. The few that do are typically made mostly of metals. Stony space rocks, even if they are big as a car, will usually break apart or explode as they crash through the atmosphere.


There are a handful of reports of homes and cars being struck by meteorites, and many cases of space rocks streaking to the surface and being found later.


But human strikes are rare. There are no known instances of humans being killed by space rocks.


According to a SPACE.com article on the topic a few years, back:

On November 30, 1954, Alabama housewife Ann Hodges was taking a nap on her couch when she was awakened by a 3-pound (1.4-kilogram) meteor that crashed through the roof of her house, bounced off a piece of furniture and struck her in the hip, causing a large bruise.
On October 9, 1992, a large fireball was seen streaking over the eastern United States, finally exploding into many pieces. In Peekskill, New York, one of the pieces struck a Chevrolet automobile owned by Michelle Knapp. Knapp was not in the car at the time.
On June 21, 1994, Jose Martin of Spain was driving with his wife near Madrid when a 3-pound (1.4-kilogram) meteor crashed through his windshield, bent the steering wheel and ended up in the back seat.

In 2004, a 2,000-pound space rock bigger than a refrigerator exploded in the late-night sky over Chicago, producing a large flash and a sound resembling a detonation that woke people up. Fragments rained down on that wild Chicago night, and many were collected by residents in a northern suburb.
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no thing
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« Reply #2 on: June 12, 2009, 12:11:27 pm »

B,

Thanks for the second article, for the first one left me wondering...

"A red hot, pea-sized piece of rock then hit his hand before bouncing off and causing a foot wide crater
in the ground."

I don't think there was a lot of "bouncing off" involved...

ILAL

no thing
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Harconen
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« Reply #3 on: June 12, 2009, 12:40:25 pm »

LOL.
Kid is from Cripton, not Obama.
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Ignis Natura Renovandum Integra
Bianca
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« Reply #4 on: June 12, 2009, 12:41:54 pm »





I thought it was a 'cute' story.

I am so glad the kid was not seriously hurt!!!
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Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Harconen
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« Reply #5 on: June 12, 2009, 12:51:56 pm »

It is, and rare too.We can make fun, everything gone well.
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Ignis Natura Renovandum Integra
Bianca
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« Reply #6 on: June 12, 2009, 01:49:33 pm »

no thing
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     Re: 14-Year-Old Hit By 30,000 mph Space Meteorite
« Reply #2 on: Today at 01:11:27 pm » Quote 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B,

Thanks for the second article, for the first one left me wondering...

"A red hot, pea-sized piece of rock then hit his hand before bouncing off and causing a foot wide crater
in the ground."

I don't think there was a lot of "bouncing off" involved...

ILAL

no thing
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



I am glad you approve.

I do that a lot of times, take different versions (sources) of the same article.  It may sound repetitious,
but each seems to lend a little more insight into the subject, like here.
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Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
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