Boy Hit by Meteorite

[007]

Boy Hit by Meteorite​

SPACE.com Space.com Staff

space.com – Fri Jun 12, 9:45 am ET

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.

Boy Hit by Meteorite - Yahoo! News

 

[RodISHI]

The sky really is falling.

 

[KittenKoder]

Now there's a one in a trillion shot, even higher since he wasn't hurt more.

 

[Metternich]

He should go get a lottery ticket.

 

[Gunny]

Boy Hit by Meteorite​

SPACE.com Space.com Staff

space.com – Fri Jun 12, 9:45 am ET

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.

Boy Hit by Meteorite - Yahoo! News

Man. It must REALLY suck to be him.

 

[007]

Aside from his new fame, the meteorite ought to be worth something.

But I wonder, what would it have done to him if it would have hit him in the shoulder, back, or head? Would it have been like getting shot?

 

[Big Black Dog]

Wonder if he will turn into something like the "Hulk"? The birth of a new super hero!

 

[Steve Jobs]

Aside from his new fame, the meteorite ought to be worth something.

But I wonder, what would it have done to him if it would have hit him in the shoulder, back, or head? Would it have been like getting shot?

Yes, actually. Meteorites travel at hundreds, sometimes even thousands of MPH and had it been bigger, the results would not have been pretty.

From Wikipedia, a car that was struck by a meteorite, and is now in a museum: