A potential meteorite impact involving a French woman enjoying her morning coffee on her terrace has caused quite a stir.
Sitting on her terrace in the early morning around 4:00 a.m. local time on July 6, the unidentified woman, a resident of Schirmeck in northeastern France, was jolted by a resonating “thud” from her rooftop.
Moments later, she felt a sting in her chest as something small and rock-like struck her. Initially, she suspected she might have been hit by a small bird or a bat until she noticed a small stone at her feet, The Connexion, a French-English news outlet, reported.
The woman, surprised, picked up the rock, which weighed roughly 1.8 ounces (50 grams). She decided to consult Thierry Rebmann, a geosciences consultant and former paleogeology researcher at the University of Basel, to scrutinize the unusual pebble.
The rock bore a resemblance to volcanic stone, yet exhibited signs of having undergone superheating in the atmosphere. Composed mainly of iron and silicon — elements commonly found in meteorites — the pebble was examined by Rebmann, who shared his findings with local news source France Bleu Alsace.
“Finding a meteorite is rare, but in addition to being in direct contact and having it fall on you from the sky, it’s an almost unique case,” Rebmann said (translated from French).
Nevertheless, some experts dispute the meteorite theory, according to France Bleu Alsace, although the individuals questioning Rebmann’s conclusions haven’t been identified and their skepticism hasn’t been fully explained. (Rebmann has invited other scientists to evaluate the stone, admitting his lack of expertise in meteorites.)
Statistically, the probability of a direct meteorite hit is exceedingly low, with estimates ranging from 1 in 1.6 million to 1 in 840 million, due to a high degree of uncertainty about the total number of meteorites that reach Earth. Most meteorites either fall into the ocean, land in uninhabited regions, or are too small to notice after their atmospheric descent.
Up to this point, the only confirmed incident of a person being hit by a meteorite was Ann Hodges in 1954. Hodges, from Sylacauga, Alabama, was hit by a 3.9-kilogram (8.5-pound) meteorite that crashed through her roof, struck her radio, and then rebounded into her lower body while she was asleep, as per the Smithsonian Magazine. Despite being hospitalized and sustaining a severe bruise, Hodges survived the incident.
According to Universe Today, a study in 2020 involving translations of ancient letters revealed accounts of two incidents in 1888: one man was reportedly killed, and another paralyzed by falling space rocks in Turkey. However, these accounts remain unverified.
Image Credit: Shutterstock