Teen Hit by 30,000 MPH Meteorite, Survives?

My name is URL

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/space/5511619/14-year-old-hit-by-30000-mph-space-meteorite.html

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.

How the hell did something that left a foot wide crater in concrete not do more damage to the kid?

liah

At least it wasn't a toilet seat.

Overheal

According to scientists, the highly magnetic rock—the size of a pea—came from outer space. It was probably a lot bigger when it entered the atmosphere, but this was the bit that survived the burning process. It hit him on his hand, leaving a 3-inch scar. If the hot meteorite had hit him on his head or torso, he would be dead now.

Magneto II is born.

Captain-America

Gerrit Blank?


He's hardly from Earth.

Saibh

Protects you from meteorites

tech77

"Nasty three-inch long scar on his hand" my ar$e.

He has possibly the coolest scar story ever.
Chicks will absolutely dig him.

ShooterSF

Wait 70% of Earth is water. Yet a massive 6 out 7 that land, land in water. That's 85% No, no, none of this makes sense. No one defeats the laws of averages!

liah

liah wrote: »

At least it wasn't a toilet seat.

I tip my hat to you, good woman.

My name is URL

ShooterSF wrote: »

Wait 70% of Earth is water. Yet a massive 6 out 7 that land, land in water. That's 85% No, no, none of this makes sense. No one defeats the laws of averages!

Chances are a billion to one according to this article...

...about it happening to someone else!

pea sized

Yet it bounces off his hand (loosing a heap of momentum) then makes a foot wide hole in the ground? I know it was going 30,000 mph but that would have been reduced alot on contact with his hand.

4zn76tysfajdxp

liah wrote: »

At least it wasn't a toilet seat.

I don't know, I'd say he needed one afterwards.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Deleted User wrote: »

Yet it bounces off his hand (loosing a heap of momentum) then makes a foot wide hole in the ground? I know it was going 30,000 mph but that would have been reduced alot on contact with his hand.

it was only the size of a pea so went straight through, the ground has a different kind of impact due to the materials in the soil/rock being completely different to the make up of a human hand

Guy:Incognito

Deleted User wrote: »

Yet it bounces off his hand (loosing a heap of momentum) then makes a foot wide hole in the ground? I know it was going 30,000 mph but that would have been reduced alot on contact with his hand.

I'm willing to go out on a limb and say "bounced off" = "skimmed against on the way down"




BTW, why did they go to the bother of taking and publishing a pic of the kid and not show the scar?

Mossy Monk

liah wrote: »

At least it wasn't a toilet seat.

I'd like to see Dead Like Me again. Any tv channels showing it?

jigglywoo

He wasnt meant to be on that Air France flight by any chance, was he?

brummytom

My name is URL wrote: »

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.

What a way to be woken up

humbert

It sure as hell didn't bounce off his hand.

xOxSinéadxOx

I read this as 'tesco hit...'

but how could it only leave him with a 3inch scar even though it made a one foot hole in the ground?

Mmcd

Lol skys image is pretty misleading with the plaster on his other hand

http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/Jun/Week2/15302347.jpg

Hagar

Meteor boy saved by O2 Layer.
All he could say was "G-G-Gosh"*
Eircom spokesman says it was an act of God and that the boy should "Pray as he goes".


*3G



I'm off before the lynch mob arrives...

PinkTulips

ShooterSF wrote: »

Wait 70% of Earth is water. Yet a massive 6 out 7 that land, land in water. That's 85% No, no, none of this makes sense. No one defeats the laws of averages!

maybe they're including ones that land in rivers, streams and garden ponds in that? :rolleyes: who knows, who cares?

definitely the best chat up line ever though 'wanna see the scar a meteorite left in my arm?'... people would pay for that leval of coolness

machiavellianme

Stekelly wrote: »

I'm willing to go out on a limb and say "bounced off" = "skimmed against on the way down"




BTW, why did they go to the bother of taking and publishing a pic of the kid and not show the scar?

Pun-tastic.
Also, wheres the pictures of this so called crater?

RandolphEsq

Captain-America wrote: »

Gerrit Blank?


He's hardly from Earth.

He WAS the thing that fell from space

/gets pitchfork


dey took our jobs!

Mr Benevolent

That's a guy? Get Senna in here quick!

My name is URL

Confab wrote: »

That's a guy? Get Senna in here quick!

lol, that's what I thought, he looks like a middle-aged lesbian garden show presenter

javaboy

I've been told off for my excessive Simpsons quoting lately so I'm saying absolutely nothing about a chihuahua's heads.

sub-x

Thats amazing that he wasn't killed,though I bet he was a little spaced.

Captain-America

javaboy wrote: »

I've been told off for my excessive Simpsons quoting lately so I'm saying absolutely nothing about a chihuahua's heads.

Ah! It's a monster! Kill it! Kill it!

It's not a monster, it's Mr. Burns!

Aww, it's Mr Burns. Kill it! Kill it!

brianthebard

xOxSinéadxOx wrote: »

I read this as 'tesco hit...'

but how could it only leave him with a 3inch scar even though it made a one foot hole in the ground?

If you measure your hand you'll probably see its only about 3 inches across. Can't leave a foot long scar on something that's only 3 inches.



(awaits penis joke-its in there somewhere)

VinnyTGM

Surely it would have done more damage to the lad if it was travelling at near to 40 times the speed of sound.

Overheal

yeah something doesnt add up does it.

Blazer

telling a load of lies i reckon..travelling at 30,000 even the tiny piece would be red hot..and at that speed it would rip right through his hand..be more than a fcuking band aid on it then..

prob saw it land and say "sweet..let's ring Sky/Sun and told a whole load of unbelievable lies and see if they print it..."


be interesting to see if Sky print my comments...very doubtfull though

My name is URL

Mathew Reilly wrote: »

telling a load of lies i reckon..travelling at 30,000 even the tiny piece would be red hot..and at that speed it would rip right through his hand..be more than a fcuking band aid on it then..

prob saw it land and say "sweet..let's ring Sky/Sun and told a whole load of unbelievable lies and see if they print it..."

Well he says "a split second after it hit" (his hand), he heard a loud bang. There's not a chance in hell he would have been able to notice any split second if it was traveling so fast

I'd say a piece of shrapnel hit his hand after the meteorite hit the ground

Blazer

My name is URL wrote: »

Well he says "a split second after it hit" (his hand), he heard a loud bang. There's not a chance in hell he would have been able to notice any split second if it was traveling so fast

I'd say a piece of shrapnel hit his hand after the meteorite hit the ground

never thought of that..good thinkign dude...I'm very sick so a bit slow this week

he's still a tool though :pac:

PK2008

It bounced off his arm yet made a crater in the ground??

Thats some amount of fapping!!!

Purple Gorilla

Mossy Monk wrote: »

I'd like to see Dead Like Me again. Any tv channels showing it?

Twas cancelled but they released a Direct-to-DVD movie in like April. I watched it last week and it was immensely good

Mathew Reilly wrote: »

telling a load of lies i reckon..travelling at 30,000 even the tiny piece would be red hot..

Could be his **** hand. It would be used to extreme heat/friction

nyarlothothep

Wow, hit by meteorite, that must rock.

challengemaster

VinnyTGM wrote: »

Surely it would have done more damage to the lad if it was travelling at near to 40 times the speed of sound.

Or, 1/22,369 the speed of light depending what way you look at it.

Or, something with approx. 179,860 Joules of kinetic energy

Riddle101

I call bulls*it on the part where it says all he got was a huge scar. The thing left a crater in the earth, and all the boy gets is a scar. I bet the boy wasn't even near the meteorite when it hit the earth and he just decided to stick his hand on in the crater to pick something up but burned it. If you ask me, they're just trying to make the story more juicy by making it sound as if the boy was an inch from death, anyway I don't care I just wonder if there are any more meteorites about the hit the earth:(

twinytwo

My name is URL wrote: »

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/space/5511619/14-year-old-hit-by-30000-mph-space-meteorite.html



How the hell did something that left a foot wide crater in concrete not do more damage to the kid?

someone is not up on their physics... and it did hit him in the hand... would depend on the mass of the object... i mean what does more damage a 2 ton truck going at 100mph or a .5 gram bullet at the same speed

kowloon

I'd imagine only a fraction of that energy would have transfered into the hand, much like an armour piercing shell being fired at a paper target.

enniscorthy

Overheal wrote: »

Magneto II is born.

DEFO

jill_valentine

My name is URL wrote: »

Well he says "a split second after it hit" (his hand), he heard a loud bang. There's not a chance in hell he would have been able to notice any split second if it was traveling so fast

I've been on the receiving end of gunfire. You can hear the bullet land behind you well before you hear the sound of the gunshot itself.

It's weird.

stovelid

Moral: excessive masturbation provides an invaluable, protective callus shield on your hands.

Tea_Bag

challengemaster wrote: »

1/22,369 the speed of light depending what way you look at it.

thats assuming the speed of light is constant, which it isnt, because, (unbeknown to secondary school science teachers seemingly) it changes according to the medium its going through, much like every other speed measurable. scientists managed to reduce the speed of light to 50mph, shooting it through sodium...

challengemaster wrote: »

179,860 Joules of kinetic energy

Im assuming your calculations are right, because im lazy and tired.

Edit: you're way off according to my calculations. im assuming the "pea sized" meteorite didnt way more than 2 grams, and with E=0.5mv^2, i get 2.304x10^12 J (joules)

according to WolframAlpha, 2.304x10^12 J of energy is roughly equal to

( 0.091) x world nuclear electricity energy production (~~ 25 TJ )

or roughly 1/11th of the energy produced by nuclear reactors from the ENTIRE world!:eek:

tech77 wrote: »

"Nasty three-inch long scar on his hand" my ar$e

More like took off his entire arm while hitting his fingernail on his pinky finger...

tech77 wrote: »

He has possibly the coolest scar story ever.
Chicks will absolutely dig him.

Unless he walks around with a print-out of that fabricated story on the internet, who the hell would believe him that it was something from outer space that gave him the scar *cough* dissability fund for the missing arm..


(disclaimer: sorry for the science stuff, but this is scientific so its not like im taking it way out of proportions..)

citizen_p

My name is URL wrote: »

How the hell did something that left a foot wide crater in concrete not do more damage to the kid?

i was thinking the same.....

and how the hell did it "bounce" off his hand.... it shouldve gone straight thru

Pygmalion

Read this story earlier and site says it grazed his hand on it's way down.
I'm assuming it's been quickly distorted to a direct hit and bouncing off.

I'm off to bed now, when some other news site reports that it's ripped through his leg post a link here, could use a laugh.

CAPSLOCK365

Starship never warned us about that bit.

jaybee747

They managed to take a picture of the lad but not of the scar nor the "crater", surely it wouldve been better to take a picture of the crater/scar and not the mopatop?

challengemaster

Tea_Bag wrote: »

Im assuming your calculations are right, because im lazy and tired.

Edit: you're way off according to my calculations. im assuming the "pea sized" meteorite didnt way more than 2 grams, and with E=0.5mv^2, i get 2.304x10^12 J (joules)

according to WolframAlpha, 2.304x10^12 J of energy is roughly equal to or roughly 1/11th of the energy produced by nuclear reactors from the ENTIRE world!:eek:

Really?
That's nice, but by working backwards from your calculations, you have v=48,000,000 m/s...I set m=0.002kg also...

How the shít did you manage that one, from 30,000mph which is 13,411.2 m/s

You sure you changed everything to SI units?

Tea_Bag

challengemaster wrote: »

v=48,000,000 m/s...

Well there's your my problem (mythbusters no?)

challengemaster wrote: »

13,411.2 m/s

you are correct good sir

challengemaster wrote: »

I set m=0.002kg also...

Ha ha interesting.

once again, appologies..;)