1 dead 3 injured as meteorite hits southern India

a reply to: asen_y2k
I guess as far as ways to die this would be better than most. If this were ever to happen to me please, for the love of God, someone take better pictures! Source

Let us not forget the possible death by concussion due to a meteor air burst. A high enough magnitude air burst in the right location could kill millions. It is also possible that this has killed people before and nobody was able to link the cause of death to a meteorite.

I'm not sure, is it meteor air burst or meteorite air burst?

a reply to: ReadLeader

That person was not killed, they were just hit?

OK, time to start wearing meteorite proof underwear. Talk about bad luck!

Well if that blurry picture in the OP's link is of the actual meteorite, it's worth a fortune. Meteorites that can be linked to a specific meteor fall are worth more than random finds. Those that can be linked to specific terrestrial events, such as the one that hit a car, or the one that went through the roof of a woman's house, are worth a fortune.

If they give the proceeds of the sale of that meteorite to the family of the dead man, the family would likely not have to worry about money for the rest of their lives.

-dex

Technically, the victim was struck by a meteoroid, not a meteorite. A meteoroid creates a meteor when it enters the earth's atmosphere and not a meteorite until it actually hits the earth's surface.

Just say'n ...

Source

a reply to: Shadoefax

Technically, the victim was struck by a meteoroid, not a meteorite. A meteoroid creates a meteor when it enters the earth's atmosphere and not a meteorite until it actually hits the earth's surface.

Your link provides a slightly different definition of meteor than I have used in the past. In doing a little more research, it would appear that one definition of a meteor could mean the streak of light created by the meteoroid once it enters the Earth's atmosphere, yet not the actual debris that impacts the surface. That would be the definition offered by your source.

However, the definition to which I have been exposed all my life is that once a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere it becomes a meteor. And it remains a meteor until it impacts the ground. Then it becomes a meteorite.

Just my 2 cents...

-dex

a reply to: DexterRiley

From the link:

Most of us probably have seen meteors or shooting stars. A meteor is the flash of light that we see in the night sky when a small chunk of interplanetary debris burns up as it passes through our atmosphere. "Meteor" refers to the flash of light caused by the debris, not the debris itself.

So, by that definition, anyone who sees a meteor in the sky is 'hit' by it (i.e., the light 'hits' the observers eyes). That would make the odds of being 'hit' by a meteor closer to certainty than the 1 in 74,817,414 mentioned in a previous post.

a reply to: Shadoefax

It took a minute to parse what you were saying.


Yes, if the meteor is defined as the flash of light, and not the debris, and an individual has ever been in an environment where the photons from a meteor flash can reach their body, then that individual has been "hit" by a meteorite. Over a typical human lifetime, it is highly probable that everyone has been in such a state at least once. Therefore it is highly probable that everyone has been hit by a meteor.


Using that definition, any debris that survives the meteoroid intrusion into the atmosphere would be similarly defined as meteoroids.

In that case, the 1 in 74,817,414 probability of being hit by a meteoroid would be proper.



-dex

A short but interesting read here on a handful of strikes. Some claiming deaths but obviously unconfirmed.

Here some more Astrophysicists to examine meteorite-like object
The Hindu

I'm sure people have got killed by meteors before, they were probably thought to have been stoned to death. Autopsies aren't preformed on every dead person and not all of the deaths were reported to papers or to the officials.

I must say, Chennai has had an awfully crappy year. I guess the poor fellow survived the floods just to get squished by an errant space rock.

God rest his soul. Rotten luck.

a reply to: SisterDelirium

I must say, Chennai has had an awfully crappy year. I guess the poor fellow survived the floods just to get squished by an errant space rock.

God rest his soul. Rotten luck.

Wow, that puts a whole different spin on this tragedy doesn't it. The guy survived a death-defying situation just to be killed in a highly unlikely manner.

-dex

a reply to: asen_y2k

If you're going to go (and we all will someday), what better way than to be hit by a meteor?

a reply to: asen_y2k

Maybe you're not a bad guy but your language is not very promising. You talk about people with a family and a lot of misery ...
Records??? It's not a game.

originally posted by: DexterRiley
a reply to: Shadoefax

It took a minute to parse what you were saying.

Yes, if the meteor is defined as the flash of light, and not the debris, and an individual has ever been in an environment where the photons from a meteor flash can reach their body, then that individual has been "hit" by a meteorite. Over a typical human lifetime, it is highly probable that everyone has been in such a state at least once. Therefore it is highly probable that everyone has been hit by a meteor.

That's kind of a two part thing, it says if it survives the atmosphere, but also if it hits the Earth=Meteorite.

Yet the director of Armagh Planetarium Colin Johnston gives us this anecdote while on the subject of space debris,

"There are no records of any human being killed hit by a space rock. It is recorded that a dog was killed by a meteorite fall at Nakhla in Egypt in 1911. A woman in Sylacauga, Alabama was lying on her sofa when a meteorite crashed through her house and bounced off her radio TV and hit her leg. She survived but had a huge bruise to show where the space rock almost got her."
So two strikes there on living creatures, and yet even he calls them Meteorites.

a reply to: smurfy

So two strikes there on living creatures, and yet even he calls them Meteorites.

An interesting point. Even the professionals don't always use the scientifically approved language when discussing the topic.

The guy that died didn't actually get hit by the meteor either. As I understand it, he was killed by falling debris caused by the explosion created as a result of the meteorite impact. So, he's the first I've heard of being killed by a meteor, yet he wasn't directly impacted by the space debris.

-dex

I'm no expert but unless this isn't a photo of the impact or they wrecked the site with digging and trampling around this doesn't look like any impact crater I've seen published before.

Picture
News Source www.abc.net.au

Looks more like a small explosive went off in a hole, smaller version of this...
Expl osion reported near the Nicaraguan capital attributed to meteorite impact, but experts, including NASA, cast doubt on claims

I'm calling it college student shenanigans.

Edited
Just after posing I was reminded of the Peekskill meteorite from 1992 which didn't leave an impressive impact crater but did mangle the trunk of a car.
Peekskill Meteorite wiki

And the one that hit a house in California.
Small Rock That Hit Novato House is Confirmed Chunk of Meteor.

...and this one from Chicago posted on Astronomy Picture Of The Day
A Chicago Meteorite Fall

The impact of the object left a 1.5-metre crater in the ground, according to local media, and shattered window panes in a nearby building, killing the man who was walking past and injuring three others.

The object weighed only 11 grams.

Empahsis added.

Doesn't add up.

Maybe two guys fought over it and the winner claimed the other guy got 'hit'.

Maybe it wasn't a meteorite at all, but an explosive device. Breaking glass isn't what we expect from a bolide that small.

a reply to: asen_y2k

Kind of funny, but the chances of this happening to you are many times better than hitting the lottery.

originally posted by: Staroth
a reply to: asen_y2k

If you're going to go (and we all will someday), what better way than to be hit by a meteor?

Yes, and while having tea with bigfoot, you'll be the most famous person in your country!

Meteors are getting smarter by the second...