Sylacauga (meteorite)

The grapefruit-sized fragment crashed through the roof of a farm house, bounced off a large wooden console radio, and hit Hodges while she napped on a couch.{{cite web | url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2015/06/02/the_hodges_meteorite_is_one_of_the_few_space_to_ever_strike_a_human.html?wpisrc=obnetwork | title=The Meteorite That Landed on a Woman in Alabama | publisher=Slate | date=June 2, 2015 | access-date=June 29, 2015 | author=Grundhauser, Eric | archive-date=May 20, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200520180706/http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2015/06/02/the_hodges_meteorite_is_one_of_the_few_space_to_ever_strike_a_human.html?wpisrc=obnetwork | url-status=live }} The 34-year-old woman was badly bruised on one side of her body, but was able to walk and able to take photos showing the fresh wound.{{cite web | url=https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/ann-hodges-meteorite-1954/ | title=Ann Hodges shows off her bruise after being hit by a meteorite, 1954 - Rare Historical Photos | date=December 8, 2016 | access-date=November 30, 2024 | archive-date=June 23, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240623053752/https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/ann-hodges-meteorite-1954/ | url-status=live}}

The meteor made a fireball visible from three American states as it streaked through the atmosphere, even though it fell early in the afternoon.{{cite journal |url=http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1954Metic...1..125S/0000125.000.html?high=484678bbd509569 |title=The Sylacauga, Talladega County, Alabama, Aerolite |last1=Swindel |first1=G.W. |last2=Jones |first2=W.B |journal=Meteoritics |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=125–132 |date=1954 |doi=10.1111/j.1945-5100.1954.tb01323.x |bibcode=1954Metic...1..125S |access-date=June 17, 2008 |archive-date=October 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024055550/http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1954Metic...1..125S/0000125.000.html?high=484678bbd509569 |url-status=live }} There were also indications of an air blast, as witnesses described hearing "explosions or loud booms".{{cite news |url=http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/02/russian_meteorite_blast_injuri.html |title=Russian meteorite blast recalls the Alabama woman struck by a meteorite in 1954 |first=Madison |last=Underwood |publisher=al.com |date=February 15, 2013 |access-date=February 16, 2013 |archive-date=February 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221073244/http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/02/russian_meteorite_blast_injuri.html |url-status=live }}

The meteorite was confiscated by the Sylacauga police chief, who then turned it over to the United States Air Force.{{cite news|last1=Nobel|first1=Justin|title=The True Story of History's Only Known Meteorite Victim|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/130220-russia-meteorite-ann-hodges-science-space-hit|publisher=National Geographic|date=February 20, 2013|access-date=November 30, 2024|archive-date=October 3, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241003215350/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/130220-russia-meteorite-ann-hodges-science-space-hit|url-status=live}} Both the Hodgeses and their landlord, Bertie Guy, claimed ownership of the rock, Guy's claim being that it had fallen on her property. The Hodgeses and Guy settled, with the Hodgeses paying $500 for the rock. However, by the time it was returned to the Hodgeses, over a year later, public attention had diminished, and they were unable to then find a buyer.{{cite web | url=https://www.zmescience.com/space/woman-struck-meteorite/amp/#ip=1 | title=The Woman who was struck by a meteorite | publisher=ZME Science | last=Rusu | first=Livia | date=January 14, 2015 | access-date=October 23, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410215230/https://www.zmescience.com/space/woman-struck-meteorite/amp/#ip=1 | archive-date=April 10, 2019 | url-status=usurped }}

Ann Hodges was uncomfortable with the public attention and the stress of the dispute over ownership of the meteorite.{{cite web|last1=Nobel|first1=Justin|title=The True Story of History's Only Known Meteorite Victim|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/02/130220-russia-meteorite-ann-hodges-science-space-hit/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221160128/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/02/130220-russia-meteorite-ann-hodges-science-space-hit/|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 21, 2013|website=National Geographic|access-date=May 3, 2015|date=February 20, 2013|quote=Ann later suffered a nervous breakdown, and in 1964 she and Eugene separated. She died in 1972 at 52 of kidney failure at a Sylacaugan nursing home. Eugene suspects the meteorite and frenzy that followed had taken its toll on Ann. He said 'she never did recover,' according to the museum. Ann 'wasn't a person who sought out the limelight,' added museum director Randy Mecredy. 'The Hodges were just simple country people, and I really think that all the attention was her downfall.'}} The Hodgeses donated it to the Alabama Museum of Natural History in 1956.

File:Sylacauga meteorite, Smithsonian Natural History Museum.jpg, the Smithsonian, DC]]

The day after the fall, local farmer Julius McKinney came upon the second-largest fragment from the same meteorite.{{cite web |url=http://archive.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/061130/meteorite.shtml |first=M.J. |last=Ellington |title=A star fell on Sylacauga: '54 meteorite struck home, woman, changed lives |publisher=The Decatur Daily |date=November 30, 2006 |access-date=July 3, 2014 |archive-date=June 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190622223316/http://archive.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/061130/meteorite.shtml |url-status=dead }} An Indianapolis-based lawyer bought it for the Smithsonian Institution. The McKinney family was able to use the money to buy a car and a house.

The earliest claim of a person being hit by a meteorite comes from 1677 in a manuscript published at Tortona, Italy, which tells of a Milanese friar who was killed by one, although its veracity is unknown.{{cite web |url=http://www.futilitycloset.com/2010/01/12/zeus-displeased/ |title=Zeus Displeased |publisher=Futility Closet |date=January 12, 2010 |access-date=July 3, 2014 |archive-date=September 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906103201/http://www.futilitycloset.com/2010/01/12/zeus-displeased/ |url-status=live}} The Tunguska event in 1908 is reported to have caused three casualties.{{Cite journal|last1=Gritzner|first1=C|title=Human Casualties in Impact Events|journal=WGN|volume=25|pages=222|bibcode=1997JIMO...25..222G|year=1997}} In 1992, a small meteorite fragment (3g) hit a young Ugandan boy in Mbale;{{cite web |url=http://dmsweb.home.xs4all.nl/meteorites/mbale/mbale.html |title=The Mbale Meteorite Fall |work=Dutch Meteor Society |year=2002 |access-date=July 3, 2014 |archive-date=May 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526183543/https://dmsweb.home.xs4all.nl/meteorites/mbale/mbale.html |url-status=live }} it had been slowed by a tree and caused no injury.

On the night of October 3, 2021, a meteorite fell through the roof of a house in Golden, British Columbia, landing on a sleeping woman's pillow, but without harming her.{{cite news |last1=Brend |first1=Yvette |title=Woman rocked awake by meteorite chunk crashing into her bedroom |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/meteorite-crashes-into-womans-bedroom-golden-bc-1.6207904 |access-date=November 30, 2022 |work=CBC News |date=October 12, 2021 |archive-date=October 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012215609/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/meteorite-crashes-into-womans-bedroom-golden-bc-1.6207904 |url-status=live }}

Upon the entry into the atmosphere, the Sylacauga meteorite fragmented into at least three pieces:

1. The Hodges fragment ({{convert|3.86|kg}}) – {{Coord|33|11|18.1|N|86|17|40.2|W}}); struck Ann Elizabeth Hodges.{{cite web|last1=Blackwell|first1=Phil|title=10 Unlikely Events That Actually Happened|url=https://theperchmag.co.uk/10-unlikely-events/|website=The Perch|access-date=November 7, 2016|archive-date=November 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161108054213/https://theperchmag.co.uk/10-unlikely-events/|url-status=live}}
2. The McKinney fragment ({{convert|1.68|kg}}) – {{Coord|33|13|08.4|N|86|17|20.7|W}}); was found the next day December 1, 1954, by Julius Kempis McKinney.
3. A third fragment is believed to have struck the Earth somewhere near Childersburg (a few km northwest of Oak Grove).

The Sylacauga meteorite is classified as an ordinary chondrite of H4 group.

The meteoroid came in on the sunward side of the Earth, so when it hit, it had passed the perihelion and was traveling outward from the Sun. Considering the orbit estimations, the best candidate as parent body is 1685 Toro.

• Auckland (meteorite), which crashed through a house in New Zealand

• Glossary of meteoritics

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140823162544/http://uanews.ua.edu/2004/11/ua-museum-to-observe-50th-anniversary-of-hodges-meteorite/ University of Alabama News: 50th Anniversary of Hodges Meteorite]
• [https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/130220-russia-meteorite-ann-hodges-science-space-hit National Geographic: The True Story of History's Only Known Meteorite Victim]

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Category:1954 in science

Category:1954 in the United States

Category:Geology of Alabama

Category:Meteorites found in the United States