A meteorite strikes woman's ribcage while she's having coffee at home
In France, a woman was struck by a meteorite while having coffee with her friend. The woman, whose name was not disclosed, was hit by a small meteorite that collided with the roof of the house and rebounded.
- Europe
- A News
- Published Date: 03:38 | 18 July 2023
- Modified Date: 03:45 | 18 July 2023
According to the French newspaper Les Dernieres Nouvelles d'Alsace (DNA), while chatting with her friend on the terrace, a mysterious stone struck the woman's ribs.
Speaking to the press, the woman said, "I heard a loud noise coming from the adjacent roof. Then, in a split second, I felt a shock in my ribs. I thought it was an animal, maybe a bat. We thought it might be a piece of cement from the ridge tiles. But it had no color."
Geologist Thierry Rebmann, who examined the mysterious object that hit the woman, determined that it consisted of a mixture of iron and silicon.
This further strengthened the possibility that the object was indeed a meteorite.
In the United States, a woman had been struck by a 9-kilogram meteorite
According to several calculations, the probability of being hit by a meteorite is roughly equivalent to winning a large lottery twice or flipping a coin and getting heads 44 times in a row.
Although NASA estimates that approximately 48 tons of meteoroids fall to Earth each day, the majority of them land in uninhabited areas or in the oceans.
There are very few historical records of meteorites striking humans.
It is known that in 1954, a 9-kilogram meteorite had struck a woman in the United States. The meteorite had pierced through the roof of her house and fallen on her.
This incident is also referred to as the only confirmed case of a meteorite striking a person.