[meteorite-list] Oh, The Stories They Tell....
There's a very simple explanation to this story: the guy's lying!!! How do I know? Because they always lie!! Why would you ever assume even for a second that such an outlandish story is true? I work at a small Earth & Space Museum with a large collection of meteorites. Every single story I've heard from people witnessing falls have been bogus. At least 10 people in the last year and a half have brought in meteorwrongs that they swear up and down hit their house. One was so hot that it melted the vinyl siding! (It was railroad rock.) One hit the house, went through the roof, bounced around inside awhile, then smashed through the wall and landed outside in the yard. (It was silicon.) Others have hit houses narrowly missing the occupants. (Slag, klinkers and more silicon). 3 or 4 people have been outside and had to duck to avoid getting hit. (Hematite and yet more slag.) Several people have come in with stories of seeing very large meteorites hit the ground, explode, form big craters, etc. Every one of these I've checked out has been a meteorwrong. Often people will bring in non native minerals and swear they found them here in Indiana, or saw them fall from the sky. I just had a chunk of antimony brought in that was supposedly found 30 feet underground! My favorite was an older lady that just finished watching a television show about how meteorites are worth millions of dollars, when suddenly she was startled by the sound of something hitting the side of her house. You guessed it, it was meteorites! 5 of them. (One was railroad rock, 3 pieces of slag, a chunk of asphalt, and a piece of melted plastic.) Under questioning, not one relented, they all stuck to their stories. They seemed to really believe their stories. It's an interesting psychological phenomenon that meteorites (like sex) seem to induce people to tell outrageous stories. __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Oh, The Stories They Tell....
It's possible he's lying for the media attention. But what about the little girl. Is she lying too? Or was she there? JoshuaTreeMuseum wrote: There's a very simple explanation to this story: the guy's lying!!! How do I know? Because they always lie!! Why would you ever assume even for a second that such an outlandish story is true? I work at a small Earth & Space Museum with a large collection of meteorites. Every single story I've heard from people witnessing falls have been bogus. At least 10 people in the last year and a half have brought in meteorwrongs that they swear up and down hit their house. One was so hot that it melted the vinyl siding! (It was railroad rock.) One hit the house, went through the roof, bounced around inside awhile, then smashed through the wall and landed outside in the yard. (It was silicon.) Others have hit houses narrowly missing the occupants. (Slag, klinkers and more silicon). 3 or 4 people have been outside and had to duck to avoid getting hit. (Hematite and yet more slag.) Several people have come in with stories of seeing very large meteorites hit the ground, explode, form big craters, etc. Every one of these I've checked out has been a meteorwrong. Often people will bring in non native minerals and swear they found them here in Indiana, or saw them fall from the sky. I just had a chunk of antimony brought in that was supposedly found 30 feet underground! My favorite was an older lady that just finished watching a television show about how meteorites are worth millions of dollars, when suddenly she was startled by the sound of something hitting the side of her house. You guessed it, it was meteorites! 5 of them. (One was railroad rock, 3 pieces of slag, a chunk of asphalt, and a piece of melted plastic.) Under questioning, not one relented, they all stuck to their stories. They seemed to really believe their stories. It's an interesting psychological phenomenon that meteorites (like sex) seem to induce people to tell outrageous stories. __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list -- Regards, Eric Wichman Meteorites USA http://www.meteoritesusa.com 904-236-5394 __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Oh, The Stories They Tell....
>>But what about the little girl. Is she lying too? Or was she there?>> I have little doubt that the man and little girl saw either the bright meteor in the sky at some point or was responding to their surroundings being lit up by it. It doesn't take a very bright fireball to produce shadows on the ground. I know I've seen shadows produced by at least a -6 fireball and if I was really looking for it, I probably would have noticed shadows for meteors a magnitude or two dimmer. In the reports that I've read, the little girl was simply quoted as saying something like, "What was that?" All the other stuff came from the man. I'm convinced the man either intentionally or unknowingly embellish his story. I think if this thing hit the water while still incandescent, the big story might be something like, "Did you see that big splash?" or " Traffic Stalled Due to Damage To a Bridge". :O) If anybody has any plans to look for meteorites based on what this man said, I'd highly recommend you save your money for the next time when the stories make sense. This event has a real good chance to drop a meteorite somewhere...probably in the ocean, but not between these two bridges. GeoZay **Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less. (http://food.aol.com/frugal-feasts?ncid=emlcntusfood0001) __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Oh, The Stories They Tell....
A good indication that there is a great need in this country for Prozac maintenance programs and extended three-times-a-week counseling. Even though I ducked out of the business three years ago, I still get calls from people with the same fantasy tales of witnessed impacts and meteorites in craters so big thay can't be moved. When I ask for more details or pictures the conversations become really bizarre. Best, John At 02:06 PM 4/4/2009, JoshuaTreeMuseum wrote: There's a very simple explanation to this story: the guy's lying!!! How do I know? Because they always lie!! Why would you ever assume even for a second that such an outlandish story is true? I work at a small Earth & Space Museum with a large collection of meteorites. Every single story I've heard from people witnessing falls have been bogus. At least 10 people in the last year and a half have brought in meteorwrongs that they swear up and down hit their house. One was so hot that it melted the vinyl siding! (It was railroad rock.) One hit the house, went through the roof, bounced around inside awhile, then smashed through the wall and landed outside in the yard. (It was silicon.) Others have hit houses narrowly missing the occupants. (Slag, klinkers and more silicon). 3 or 4 people have been outside and had to duck to avoid getting hit. (Hematite and yet more slag.) Several people have come in with stories of seeing very large meteorites hit the ground, explode, form big craters, etc. Every one of these I've checked out has been a meteorwrong. Often people will bring in non native minerals and swear they found them here in Indiana, or saw them fall from the sky. I just had a chunk of antimony brought in that was supposedly found 30 feet underground! My favorite was an older lady that just finished watching a television show about how meteorites are worth millions of dollars, when suddenly she was startled by the sound of something hitting the side of her house. You guessed it, it was meteorites! 5 of them. (One was railroad rock, 3 pieces of slag, a chunk of asphalt, and a piece of melted plastic.) Under questioning, not one relented, they all stuck to their stories. They seemed to really believe their stories. It's an interesting psychological phenomenon that meteorites (like sex) seem to induce people to tell outrageous stories. __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list John Gwilliam Too many people were born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple. __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
