In 1954, Ann Hodges, an Alabama woman, was injured by a direct hit from a meteorite while resting on her couch. The rock, weighing 4.5 kilograms and 4.5 billion years old, left a considerable wound on her side after passing through her ceiling and bouncing off her radius. This case was recently brought to mind because on May 8, Suzy Kop, a woman from Hopewell Township, New Jersey, reported that a space rock had come through her house.
Such an event is sporadic; Michael Reynolds, an astronomer at Florida State College, stated that it is more likely “to be hit by a tornado, lightning, and a hurricane at the same time.”
Hodges lived to tell the story.
Hodges’ incident was more complex, as the meteorite had split in two. While one part landed at his home, the other was found about half a mile away in a farmer’s field. Witnesses described the sight as “a bright reddish light” streaking across the sky. Some even mentioned a “fireball, like a gigantic voltaic arc.”
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After the incident, she faced a legal dispute with her landlady, who claimed ownership of the meteorite. Convinced that the rock belonged to her, Hodges commented, “I think God meant it for me. After all, it hit me!”
She kept a nice souvenir.
Eventually, after an out-of-court settlement, Hodges got the cosmic rock for $500. Despite the victim’s expectations, they failed to find a buyer for the meteorite. So, the rock served as a doorstop for a while until they finally decided to donate it to the Alabama Museum of Natural History.