Boy Hit By Meteorite Travelling At 30,000mph - Sky News-UK (Added photo)

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

Boy Hit By Meteorite Travelling At 30,000mph

Speaking of improbable.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Boy-Hit-On-Arm-By-White-Hot-Meteorite-From-Outer-Space-Travelling-At-30000mph/Article/200906215302251?lpos=World_News_First_Strange_News__Article_Teaser_Region__0&lid=ARTICLE_15302251_Boy_Hit_On_Arm_By_White-Hot

A teenager was hit by a meteorite travelling at 30,000mph - and lived to tell the tale.

Gerrit Blank after surviving a direct hit by a meteorite as it hurtled to Earth at more than 30,000 mph The meteorite struck Gerrit on the hand, and buried itself in the road

Gerrit Blank was on his way to school when he saw a massive fireball heading straight towards him from the sky. The white-hot meteorite bounced off the schoolboy's hand and hit the ground so hard it left a foot-long crater in the tarmac - as well as a three-inch scar on his hand. Gerrit, 14, 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 in the road."

Scientists are now studying the pea-sized meteorite, which crashed to Earth in Essen in Germany. Chemical tests on the rock have now proved it is from outer space. nsgar Korte, director of Germany's Walter Hohmann Observatory, said: "It's a real meteorite, therefore it is very valuable to collectors and scientists."

Chances of being struck by a meteorite are around one in 100 million. Mr Korte said: "Most meteorites 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."

[Taverner]

1. Um, but how's the boy's hand????

Seriously - that was my first concern

[krispos42]

8. It probably didn't actually hit him

I would guess that it streaked by so close that the shock wave and heat (remember, it's going well over Mach 30) probably damaged the skin.

If it had hit the hand would have been blasted clean off like somebody had detonated an M80 in there!

[hvn_nbr_2]

14. Aha! Thanks.

Now that makes sense. I was thinking, "30,000 mph and it bounced off his hand? Bounced off his hand but buried itself in the road? Man, that kid must have a bionic hand."

[krispos42]

15. Well, it was almost certainly slowed down by the time it got down here

But I'll bet it was still traveling at least as fast as a rifle bullet. And those leave the barrel at nearly Mach 3.

[Ganja Ninja]

2. Wow shades of Dead Like Me.

[MADem]

3. Sounds more like it GRAZED him. Still, will he develop super powers? NT

[krispos42]

4. There are a lot of other, more deserving people, that it could have hit

And that's all I can say. :evilgrin:

[LaurenG]

5. A pea-sized meteorite that traveled 30,000 mph

:wow:

[KittyWampus]

13. pretty much a speeding bullet, no?

[LaurenG]

16. It's a good thing the child was only grazed, it could have

taken his hand off.

[krispos42]

18. If only

If it's blowing foot-wide craters in asphalt, it had a lot more energy than a bullet of the same size. It might have had the energy of one of those big .50-caliber rifles, but not anything you'd normally use or see on TV

[hobbit709]

6. It wasn't doing 30K mph by the time it got to the ground.

If it was still going that fast, the impact would have vaporized his hand and then some.

[SidDithers]

21. Exactly...

a 5g rock travelling at 30,000 mph has ~450,000 J of energy.

For comparison, the energy of a .45 cal handgun bullet is just over 600 J.

Sid

[valerief]

7. Isn't this how superheroes are created?

:rofl:

[CreekDog]

9. My friend got hit by an orange while on a roller coaster

:shrug:

[charlie]

10. A bit luckier than Ann Hodges was...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. She was mentioned in the complete article.

[KatyMan]

12. Boy Hit By Meteorite Travelling At 30,000mph

OK, how was a boy travelling 30,000mph?

[FSogol]

17. With superpowers gained by contact with meteor, Duh

;-)

[Bucky]

20. The earth is in motion around the sun, the sun is in motion in the galaxy, and the boy

is the Flash.

[KatyMan]

22. Thanks FSogol and Bucky,

I know I'll sleep better tonight.

[Bucky]

19. I'm from the old school. If it doesn't plow thru the Chrysler building and destroy civilization...

it doesn't count as a real meteorite. This is the most disappointing photograph I've ever seen.

[FSogol]

23. I agree. That's not a meteor, that's a lentil. n/t

[LWolf]

24. Weird.

I just got done (yesterday) reading a ya book about a boy whose house is struck by a meteorite, just missing him where he was on the roof, watching the Leonids.

I try to keep up with what my students are reading. This one is by Will Hobbs, a popular author with boys who like outdoor, physical kinds of activities. It's called Go Big Or Go Home.

[Javaman]

25. Meh, I would be more impressed if the meteor was hit by the kid going 30K mph. nt