My first question is this: even if it is coming from the bellies of planes why hasn't it happened before? What has changed?

My second question is whether or not anyone knows where I can buy a steel umbrella.

BRIGANTINE, N.J. (AP) - May 21, 2006 - A large block of ice believed to have been discarded by an airplane fell thousands of feet onto the lawn of a Brigantine residence Saturday.

BRIGANTINE — It was a pretty typical Saturday evening for Dan and Jean Ciechanowski as they worked the barbecue and chatted with neighbors this past weekend.

Then it happened.

Dan Ciechanowski heard a noise that he described as the sound a missile makes and saw something moving across the sky at a 45-degree angle.

It smashed into a vacant lot next to his property with a crash that shook the foundation of his house.

That crash was pretty close to where Jean Ciechanowski was grilling. Though there is a fence between her property and the vacant yard, she too heard the missile-like sound and felt the impact.

Originally posted by zorgon
Speaking of sun, for those who don't know about this, the SOHO satelite 1 million miles in space is sending life feed solar pics every 6 minutes. So for dearwife, now you can add watching explosions on the sun to your "worry" list You can climpse many comets as they zap into the sun.

LIVE SOLAR FEED

01-29) 20:08 PST Tampa, Fla. (AP) --

Raymond Rodriguez was changing a tire when an 18-inch chunk of ice plummeted from the sky with a piercing whistle, then a metallic crunch. The ice chunk crushed the roof of a nearby Ford Mustang on Sunday morning. No one was hurt.

"I was scared," Rodriguez said, who was only feet away. "It's crazy, man."

The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing flight schedules to see if the ice fell off a plane. The ice did not have a blue tint that would indicate it came from a plane's lavatory. The National Weather Service said conditions in Tampa were not favorable for the formation of large balls of ice, known as megacryometeors.

"It's not an act of God," said Carlos Javage, whose son's car was wrecked by the mystery ice. "This came off an airplane."

Saturday night, the son parked his Mustang outside a friend's home at 9406 Hilldrop Court in northwest Tampa, planning to return later to fetch it. Sunday morning, he got the unhappy news.

Carlos Javage said his son, who is still paying off the car, was in shock.

"That was his dream car," he said.

Bits of glass and ice littered the car's damp back seat. A baseball-size piece of ice stood near the spoiler.

John Young, 38, who lives across the street, stored a larger piece - about as big as a football - in his refrigerator.

(CBS 3) WOODLYN A Delaware County family narrowly avoided injury after a chunk of ice came crashing through their home Wednesday evening.

The incident happened shortly after 8:00 p.m. in the 1300 block of Donna Drive in Woodlyn.

Ed and Penny Myers said they were getting their 4-year-old daughter ready for bed when the icy object tore a 3-foot hole through the roof.

"There was this explosion in the room. At first I thought it was the T.V. shattering and glass, then I looked up and saw the hole in the ceiling and I was afraid the whole ceiling was going to collapse," said Penny.