That evening, an old miner in the hotel restaurant recognized the stone as a meteorite. Many years before, he had visited a museum and had seen specimens of meteorites on display there.
The slabs of slate penetrated by the meteorite would have provided good evidence as to the speed of the cosmic missile at the time it struck the roof. But, unfortunately, these appear to have been thrown away at the time the roof was repaired. This fact is mentioned to show that important scientific evidence is sometimes unwittingly destroyed before investigators can get a chance to examine it.
Along with the rapid increase in the number of man-made buildings has, of course, gone a simultaneous increase in the world’s population itself. A person does not present as large a target to a falling meteorite as a house or barn, but even so, if there were enough people on the earth, it would seem that someone was bound to be hit sooner or later.
G. W. SWINDEL, JR. PHOTO COURTESY OF ALABAMA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY The Sylacauga, Alabama, stone meteorite and the roof (note circle) through which it plunged and struck a person.
Actually, the first authentic case of a person being struck by a meteorite did not occur until November 30, 1954. Even then, the hit was an indirect one. At Sylacauga, Alabama, a meteorite fell through the roof of a house, went through the ceiling of the living room, struck the top of a radio, and—bouncing in a 6-foot arc—hit the lady of the house, who was taking a nap on the couch. Fortunately, nearly all of the energy of the meteorite was spent by the time it struck the woman, and, moreover, she was covered with two heavy quilts so that she was not critically injured. But she did receive bruises serious enough to send her to the hospital.
The instances just given show that a number of meteorites have struck buildings and, in one case, a cosmic missile has hit a human being. Nevertheless, such events are really quite rare. In fact, mathematical calculations indicate that, on the average, we can expect one meteorite to fall per township (36 square miles) per 1000 years. A rate like this does not justify the loss of any sleep over the possibility that you might some time be hit by a falling meteorite!
SELECTED LIST OF METEORITES THAT HAVE STRUCK AND DAMAGED BUILDINGS
| NAME AND LOCATION | TYPE | APPROXIMATE WEIGHT | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter, Missouri | stone | 611 gm.[4] | 1916 |
| Meteorite penetrated roof and struck a log joist, which checked the fall. The stone lodged in the attic. | |||
| Beddgelert, North Wales | stone | 794 gm. | 1949 |
| Meteorite made a clean hole through 4 thicknesses of slate roof. It then shattered underlying wood, made tiny dent in bottom edge of H-section iron girder, and broke through plaster ceiling into hotel lounge below. | |||
| Benld, Illinois | stone | 1770 gm. | 1938 |
| Meteorite penetrated garage roof, top of car, and seat cushion. It struck and put 1-inch dent in muffler, then bounded back up and became entangled in seat cushion springs. | |||
| Bethlehem, New York | stone | 11 gm. | 1859 |
| Meteorite struck the side of wagon house, bounded off, hit log upon ground, bounded again, and rolled into the grass. (A dog lying in the doorway of the wagon house jumped up, ran out and seized the meteorite, but dropped it right away, probably because of the warmth and sulfurous odor of the stone.) | |||
| Branau, Bohemia | iron | 19,000 gm. | 1847 |
| Meteorite penetrated into room where 3 children were sleeping and covered them with plaster and debris. They were unharmed. | |||
| Constantia, South Africa | stone | 999 gm. | 1906 |
| Meteorite penetrated 2 thicknesses of corrugated iron roofing and smashed ceiling. | |||
| Kasamatsu, Japan | stone | 721 gm. | 1938 |
| Meteorite penetrated roof of house and stopped on floor. It went through roof tile, ⅓-inch wooden roof-panel, and layer of clay 1 inch thick between them. | |||
| Kilbourn, Wisconsin | stone | 772 gm. | 1911 |
| Meteorite went through 3 thicknesses of shingles, a 1-inch hemlock roof board, and a ⅞-inch hemlock floor board. It then glanced in turn against the side of a manger and the stone foundation of the barn and finally penetrated 2½ inches into the clay floor of the barn. | |||
| Pantar, Philippine Is. | stone | shower | 1938 |
| Sixteen stones were recovered; thousands “as big as corn and rice grains” fell on roofs. | |||
| Sylacauga, Alabama | stone | 3863 gm. | 1954 |
| Meteorite penetrated composition roof material, ¾-inch wooden decking, ¾-inch wooden ceiling, and interior wallboard. It then hit a radio, punching a 1-inch hole in plywood top, and bounced 90° towards the east, striking woman lying on couch. | |||