14-Year Old Hit By Meteorite

[SteveC]

I just saw this on Slashdot. A 14-year old girl in England had a small meteorite fall on her foot. The odds of a meteorite hitting a person are 1 billion to 1. My favorite quote from the article: " This does not happen very often in Northallerton." Here is the whole article.

Steve

 

[Groltz]

She's lucky it wasn't at it's peak temperature. (glowing white) Had it been, she would have a nice hole in her foot where it burned through.

Too bad that event didn't happen in urban California. Imagine the poor yuppie that gets hit with a stone and can't sue anyone over it. :wink:

 

[time]

The BBC must really be slipping. This is a hoax for sure.

o Any metallic object travelling at a few hundred kilometres an hour will make some sort of crater, if only a relatively small one. The article didn't mention the hole in her foot, so I gather it just bounced off. :lol:

o You sure as hell wouldn't be able to see anything that fast.

o It certainly would be "quite hot". They didn't mention skin grafts ...

o The appearance doesn't sound like a meteorite, but rather a piece of slag.

And the date of publication wasn't even April 1. This just adds weight to my theory that the UK is becoming increasingly loony.

 

[SteveC]

A meteorite that small would slow down to terminal velocity once it hit the atmosphere. It's very possible that there would be no crater at all. Also, meteorites that size are generally cooled by the upper atmosphere, so it would likely be cool or at most warm to the touch. I think the part about actually hitting her might be a hoax, but there's a very real possibility of it being a real meteorite.

Steve

 

[flagreen]

Somehow this is all related to crop circles and the ghost of Elvis.

 

[Will Rickards WT]

This just adds weight to my theory that the UK is becoming increasingly loony.

I don't think this phenomenon is restricted to the UK.

 

[Tannin]

The odds of a meteorite hitting a person are 1 billion to 1.

In which case, it should happen six and a quarter times each year.

 

[Tea]

But probably not to the same person.

 

[Prof.Wizard]

Too bad that event didn't happen in urban California. Imagine the poor yuppie that gets hit with a stone and can't sue anyone over it. :wink:

Hahahahahahaha :lol:

 

[jtr1962]

If this happened in the US, they probably would sue whatever group is responsible for tracking near Earth objects. Not that you could track every rock in the sky anyway, but the lawyers would still proceed with such an unreasonable lawsuit, and a stupid jury would probably actually award money.

 

[Buck]

If this happened in the US, they probably would sue whatever group is responsible for tracking near Earth objects. Not that you could track every rock in the sky anyway, but the lawyers would still proceed with such an unreasonable lawsuit, and a stupid jury would probably actually award money.

Don't forget the made-for-TV movie that would follow.

 

[Prof.Wizard]

Don't forget the made-for-TV movie that would follow.

ROFLMAO :rofl:
You guys are killing me with these...

Then imagine the new "gadgets" (strictly sold only over Internet or TV channels) to protect you from the celestial menace... :wink:
Oh, and we ship ONLY in California!

 

[Onomatopoeic]

I believe there was a woman in Oklahoma that got hit by a piece of space junk (i.e. -- man-made satellite trash).