[meteorite-list] Suspected Meteorite Hits Illinois Home

Ron Baalke baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov
Mon Mar 5 17:34:03 EST 2007

A space object that fell through the atmosphere and crashed through
the window of a Bloomington home is weighed at Illinois State University,
Monday, March 5, 2007. (Pantagraph, David Proeber)

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/03/05/news/doc45ec62e14a6c2722505892.txt

Suspected meteorite hits Bloomington home
By M.K. Guetersloh
Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois)
March 5, 2007

UPDATE 2:30 p.m. BLOOMINGTON - A Bloomington couple caught a falling
star Monday morning not quite in their pockets but in a bedroom of their
house.

A chunk of metal that crashed through the bedroom window of David and
Dee Riddle just after 9:30 a.m. appears may be a meteorite but it also
could be a piece of space junk according to preliminary analysis by
several Illinois State University geology professors.

However, the professors who had a look at it agree that whatever the
heavy, gray metal-based object that crashed through their window
definitely came from space.

Robert "Skip" Nelson, a professor of geology at ISU, came out to
Riddles' home to take a look at the object, which is about the size and
shape of deck of cards.

Nelson said based on the density of the object, the metal could be an
iron-nickel mixture or a heavy stainless steel. It is unlikely a
satellite or spacecraft would contain metal that heavy and dense, Nelson
said.

"In my 36 years of investigating meteorite calls, this looks like the
real thing," Nelson said.

Nelson said to be sure the next step will be to call the United State
Geological Survey's meteorite center in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Because of the steep entry angle into the house and the speed the object
crashed into the house, Nelson said is definitely was not a rock thrown
at the window.

Eric Peterson, an assistant professor of geology, calculated the speed
the possible meteorite hit the home was at least 60 miles an hour.

Dee Riddle, who runs a day-care out of their Partner Place house, said
she heard the crash and felt the house shake around 9:30 a.m.

"My first thought was a bathroom mirror fell so I immediately started
looking," Riddle said. "That's when I found the hole in the mini-blinds
and the broken window.

"We were just lucky no one was sitting at the computer when it happened."

In addition to breaking through the window, the possible meteorite hit
the computer desk putting a hole through the particle board.

Nelson said the last confirmed meteorite to hit Bloomington was in the
1930s.

[Photo by David Proeber, Pantagraph]

[meteorite-list] Suspected Meteorite Goes Through Window in Illinois

Ron Baalke baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov
Tue Mar 6 11:46:43 EST 2007

http://media.www.dailyvidette.com/media/storage/paper420/news/2007/03/06/News/Suspected.Meteorite.Goes.Through.Window-2758413.shtml

Suspected meteorite goes through window
Eric Heisig
The Daily Vidette
March 6, 2007

At a 71-degree angle, going 60 mph, an object went through the house of
Bloomington residents David and Dee Riddle at 9:40 a.m. Monday morning.
Although it has not been officially confirmed, the object is suspected
to be a meteorite.

"I was in the kitchen when I heard the sound of glass breaking," Dee
Riddle, whose house is located off of West Miller Street, said. "There
was also a thump and a shake."

Riddle ran around the house to find the breaking glass. She found it in
their bedroom in the back of the house.

"It took me 15 minutes to look for it and then I found it," she explained.

After the object was spotted, she called the police to file a report.

"When I told them what I thought it was, they thought I was crazy,"
Riddle said. "Then they saw it and called the sergeant to look at it."

From there, the Fire Department came with Geiger counters to make sure
it was not radioactive. Crime scene officials also came to investigate
the ballistics of the impact.

"They did say it was a meteorite, but it needed to be tested," Riddle said.

Professors from ISU were also called to look at the scene and many of
them, after dong some preliminary studies, said they speculate it is a
meteorite.

"From what I know, this is consistent with meteorites," Jay Anser, a
general education lab coordinator for the department of Physics, said.

Dave Malone, a professor in the department of Geology, said he is 80
percent sure this is a meteorite.

It is uncommon for meteorites to actually hit the ground.

"Most of the time they burn up completely," Skip Nelson, a professor in
the department of Geology, said. "It is rare for them to land."

Nelson said the department of Geology gets about two calls per year of
people who think they have found a meteorite, but they rarely turn out
to be them.

"This is the first one that has even been close," he explained.

Even if the geologists at ISU are certain, there are tests that need to
be done to confirm whether or not it is a meteorite. There are a number
of tests that can be done, according to James Day, a professor in the
department of Geology.

"It can be cut with a diamond saw and do a spectrogramic study," Day
said. "Also, acid etching can be done, to determine its crystal structure,"

The object will need to be sent out in order to determine whether or not
it is in fact a meteorite.

[meteorite-list] Illinois Meteorite Strike in Doubt

Ron Baalke baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov
Fri Mar 9 16:31:51 EST 2007

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=5264

Illinois meteorite strike in doubt

A palm-sized piece of metallic debris that punched a hole in a
Bloomington, Illinois, home may be wood-chipper debris.

Daniel Pendick
Astronomy Magazine
March 9, 2007

Help wanted. Homeowners in Bloomington, Illinois, seeking carpenter and
cabinetmaker with experience in repair of meteorite damage.

Or...Anybody know a good lawyer?

The alleged "meteorite" that smashed through a window Monday, March 12,
at the home of David and Dee Riddle of 25 Partner Place, Bloomington,
may be a chunk of ordinary steel plate spit out of an industrial
wood-chipper about 1,000 feet (300 meters) from the Riddle home,
according to James Day, a geology professor at Illinois State University
who examined the reputed space rock. "We have our suspicions this may
not be a legitimate meteorite."

Indeed, even as CNN broadcasts its report on the incident on
international television, meteorite experts were already puzzling over
the alleged meteorite's odd features. "I've seen some pictures of this
alleged meteorite and based on the photograph alone, I am a bit dubious
about its origin as a meteorite," says Meenakshi Wadhwa, geology
professor and director of the Center for Meteorite Studies
at Arizona State University in Tempe.

For example, Wadhwa told Astronomy in an e-mail, there is a "strange
looking transition between what looks like a shinier surface and a
somewhat rusty looking patch, as well as the very flat right edge of the
object." A fresh meteorite, even if it contained iron, would not be rusty.

"Having said that, however, photographs can be misleading and I would
not venture to say anything definitive simply based on a single
photograph," she adds.

Day said the reputed meteorite needs to undergo laboratory testing to
determine that it was, indeed, a fresh meteorite that fell from space.

Wadhwa explains that certain key features could distinguish the object
as a meteorite: whether it has a "fusion crust" from its surface being
heated from friction with the atmosphere, and whether a magnet attracts
it, indicating the presence of iron.

Wadhwa also notes, "If it is a fresh fall, I would also say that I would
not expect it to show any rust â€” any metal present should look pretty
fresh."

Laboratory tests could also determine if the object contains nickel,
which metallic meteorites typically contain.

[end of article]

Dr. Meenakshi Wadhwa Geologist
Meenakshi Wadhwa studies the oldest rocks on Earth—meteorites.
© The Field Museum, gn87845.2.

[meteorite-list] Metal Fragment That Hit Illinois Home Not A Meteorite

Ron Baalke baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov
Thu Apr 5 11:19:10 EDT 2007

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/04/04/news/doc46142bcd06542966362700.txt

Metal fragment that hit home not a meteorite
By M.K. Guetersloh
Pantagraph (Illinois)
April 4, 2007

BLOOMINGTON -- The chunk of metal that crashed though a Bloomington
couple's home last month was not a meteorite but something man-made.

But Robert "Skip" Nelson, a professor of geology at Illinois State
University, said the theory may be just as unique as he pieces together
how the piece of metal made its way March 5 into David and Dee Riddle's
house at Partner Place.

Nelson said the metal object appears to have been ejected from a wood
grinder from Twin City Wood Recycling. "That's almost as amazing as it
being a meteorite," Nelson said.

The metal object is about the size of a deck of cards and weighs nearly
a pound. Because of its weight and the steep angle with which it hit the
house, Nelson initially thought it could have been a meteorite.

John Wollrab, owner of the recycling company, said he contacted
university scientists within days of learning about it.

"I had heard about it and thought it was interesting," Wollrab said. "It
was close to my business and we were outside that day running the
grinder so it made me wonder if it was something that came out of the
grinder."

Wollrab let university professors studying the object come out to his
business to take measurements.

If it was ejected from the grinder, Nelson said, the chunk of metal
would have traveled about 300 meters, or roughly 900 feet.

"The force to push it that far would have been pretty great," Nelson said.

The speed the object was traveling when it crashed through the Riddles'
bedroom window and punched through a computer desk would have been "a
couple of hundred miles an hour," Nelson added.

Wollrab said he would be surprised if something could be ejected from
the machinery with enough force to travel that far. "I think it is still
speculation," Wollrab said.

Dee Riddle said she, too, is surprised by Nelson's theory.

"I just don't understand how that could have traveled that far," she said.

Nelson doesn't know where the metal came from. He said it did not come
from the machinery but may have been something mixed in with the wood.