For a long time, humanity has been watching the fall of cosmic stones. Of course, not all heavenly wanderers reach the earth, most often they burn up in the atmosphere, but there are exceptions. We have selected interesting and at the same time strange stories about meteorites that changed the fate of people.
Willamette meteorite
Willamette is the largest meteorite found in the United States (weighing more than fifteen tons).
An ordinary miner Ellis Hughes discovered a space object in 1902, the man immediately realized that it was not just a large stone and really the main components of a celestial body - iron and nickel. An intelligent man immediately realized how you can make money with the help of an unusual find. But there was only one obstacle: the land on which the stone was found belonged to a metallurgical company. There was no money to buy the site, and Hughes decided to steal the meteorite. Together with his son, he began excavations around the find, after which they moved the meteorite from the pit to the side basket, which they built from tree trunks, the logs were used as rollers. It took three months to prepare for the theft. When the star stone was delivered to the right place, the man built a house around him and made an announcement that he had found this space object and it was his property. As a result, he began to take money from everyone who wanted to see the heavenly body. But the miner did not manage to get rich, as the adventure was quickly discovered, and the Oregon Metallurgical Company received the right to the space object by a court decision. In 1905, the celestial stone was bought by a private person, and the next year it was donated to the Natural History Museum. Willamette is currently on display for visitors.
Goba meteorite
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This space object is a strange flat meteorite. It weighs 60 tons and is considered the largest on earth.
It was discovered in Namibia (South Africa) in 1920. Farmer Jacob Brits was plowing the ground and accidentally stumbled upon a celestial object. The man did not find the find unusual, since only its upper part was visible. The only thing that alarmed was the soil around the stone, it became chalky, although the meteorite itself was dark in color. “I scratched the stone with a knife and saw that it was glistening inside,” the farmer said. Jacob did not even suspect what he had found, so he called representatives of the local authorities. The arrivals said the giant boulder was a meteorite. Due to its size, the heavenly stone was left in place for people to come and visit. A kind of museum, like an amphitheater, was built around the find. In 1955, the authorities declared the celestial find a national monument. In the eighties, stone and earth itself,on which it is located, were donated to the state. This is how the farmer lost his land because of the heavenly wanderer.
Hodges meteorite
What are the chances of getting hit straight from a meteorite? The question may seem absurd, but American scientists carried out calculations and found that, on average, once every 7 years, a space object can harm a person. But all these are scientific calculations, everyone decides for himself whether to believe them or not. We offer you to get acquainted with a real story that happened to an American woman in 1954.
November 30 is remembered as the day when a meteorite first hit a woman. It happened near the city of Sulakoga, Alabama, after this incident, Ann Elizabeth Hodges became famous throughout the world. The cosmic body pierced the roof of the house, ricocheted against the radio and hit the sleeping woman in the thigh. This heavenly wanderer turned out to be a fragment of the Sulakog meteorite or, as it is also called, the Khodzha meteorite. The stone, weighing about four kilograms, inflicted severe bruises on Ann and left a huge bruise. The meteorite was immediately taken away by the special services, but the victim's husband, who worked as a lawyer, seized the space object back. The woman did not manage to sell the celestial body for big money, and in 1956 she donated the stone to the Alabama Natural History Museum.
There was another shard from the Sulakog meteorite. McKinney found him at his property. The farmer was lucky to attach a stone to the Simonov Institute. It is not known exactly how much the meteorite was sold for, but the family after the deal bought a car and a house.
Unique meteor shower
Did you know that the longest meteor shower lasted ten hours? It took place on the night of November 13, 1833. During this time, about 240 thousand celestial bodies of various sizes fell from the sky.
Our atmosphere does not always cope with the elimination of space objects, and the most "lucky" ones end up on earth. Perhaps the words "the sky is falling" should be taken more seriously.
Christina Osipova