A meteorite fragment fell through a roof and struck a woman’s ribs in Schirmeck province.
A woman in France recently had a small meteorite fall on her ribs while enjoying coffee with a friend on a terrace, Newsweek reported on July 14. This is an extremely rare event.
Meteorite fragments fall in Schirmeck. (Photo: DNA)
“I heard a loud noise coming from the roof next door. Just a second later, I felt a hit on my ribs. I thought it was an animal, like a bat. At first, we thought it was a piece of cement. But it had no color,” the anonymous woman recounted.
After the incident, the woman from Schirmeck in northeastern France took the object to a roofer for examination. The roofer informed her that the object was not cement but resembled a meteorite. She then handed the mysterious object over to geologist Thierry Rebmann. According to Rebmann, the stone appears to contain a mixture of iron and silicon, likely indicating it is a meteorite. In total, the fragments weigh nearly 113 grams.
Meteorites are rocky bodies that survive their journey through Earth’s atmosphere and land on the ground. They come in various sizes, from small house-sized pieces to tiny asteroids. Meteorites originate from larger bodies, primarily asteroids, but can also come from the Moon and other planets like Mars. They can be made of rock, metal, or a combination of both.
Most meteorites completely disintegrate when they streak through Earth’s atmosphere at speeds of tens of thousands of kilometers per hour. A small percentage makes it to the ground. According to NASA, an estimated 50 tons of meteorite material falls to Earth every day. However, most of it is very small and lands in the oceans, which cover 70% of the planet’s surface. When they reach the ground, it is difficult to distinguish meteorites from ordinary rocks based solely on their shape. In some areas, such as sandy deserts or icy regions, meteorites are easier to detect.
The first recorded instance of a meteorite hitting a person occurred in the U.S. nearly 70 years ago. In a November 1954 incident, Ann Hodges from Sylacauga, Alabama, was struck by a 3.6 kg meteorite that fell through her roof. The incident left Hodges with bruises.
