Hodges meteorite

The Hodges Meteorite is the only documented extraterrestrial object to have struck a human being. It was a grapefruit-sized fragment of the Sylacauga meteorite [http://tin.er.usgs.gov/meteor/metbull.php?sea=Sylacauga+&sfor=names&ants=&falls=&stype=contains&lrec=50&
] ] which fell on November 30, 1954. It crashed through the roof of a frame house in Oak Grove, Alabama, bounced off a large wooden console radio, destroying it, and hit Ann Elizabeth Hodges (1923-1972) who was napping on a couch. The 31 year old woman was badly bruised on one side of her body but able to walk. The event received worldwide publicity.

Coincidentally, the house where the meteorite landed was opposite the Comet Drive-In Theatre [ [http://www.michaelbloodmeteorites.com/Hammers.html Michael Blood Meteorites: Sylacauga] ] .

Following events

The United States Air Force sent a helicopter to take the meteorite. Eugene Hodges, the husband of the woman who was struck, hired a lawyer to get it back. The Hodgeses' landlord also claimed it, wanting to sell it to cover the damage to the house. There were offers of up to 5,000 U.S. dollars for the meteorite. By the time it was returned to the Hodgeses, over a year later, public attention had diminished and they were unable to find a buyer willing to pay much money.

Mrs. Hodges was uncomfortable with the public attention and the stress of the dispute over ownership of the meteorite. Against her husband's wishes, she donated it to the Alabama Museum of Natural History where it is on display at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. [cite news | url=http://uanews.ua.edu/anews2004/nov04/meteorite112404.htm | title=UA Museum to Observe 50th Anniversary of Hodges Meteorite | publisher=University of Alabama |date=November 24, 2004 | first= | last= | accessdate =2008-05-17]

The stone

It is an 8.51 pounds (3.86 kg) fragment of Sylacauga meteorite, an ordinary chondrite meteorite, type H4.

ee also

*Sylacauga (meteorite)

Notes

External links and references

* [http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1995LPI....26.1133P/0001133.000.html?high=484678bbd531063 H. Povenmire. "The Sylacauga, Alabama Meteorite: The Impact Locations, Atmosphere Trajectory, Strewn Field and Radiant"] . Abstracts of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, volume 26, page 1133, (1995)
* [http://uanews.ua.edu/anews2004/nov04/meteorite112404.htm University of Alabama News: 50th Anniversary of Hodges Meteorite]
* [http://amnh.ua.edu/collections.html#treasures Alabama Museum of Natural History: Hodges Meteorite]
* [http://www.al.com/living/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/living/110163705551922.xml The Birmingham News: A star really did fall on Alabama]
* [http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/061130/meteorite.shtml The Decatur Daily (online edition): A star fell on Sylacauga] November 30, 2006.