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In 1954 Ann Hodges was asleep on her sofa in Alabama when a 4-kilogram rock from space came through the ceiling, bounced off her radio and struck her hip. She remains one of the few people confirmed to have been directly injured by a meteorite.

Sylacauga, Alabama, 30 November 1954

SpaceHistory

The story behind the card

The meteorite, a stone about 4.5 billion years old, broke in two as it fell over the town of Sylacauga; a local farmer found the second piece a few kilometres away. Hodges was left with a large bruise on her hip. Her landlady, Birdie Guy, claimed the rock as the owner of the house, and Hodges eventually paid her $500 to keep it. The flood of reporters and visitors wore her down, and in 1956 she gave the meteorite to the Alabama Museum of Natural History, where it is still on display. The case is often described as the first well-documented instance of a meteorite injuring a person.

Türkçe oku
1954'te Ann Hodges, Alabama'daki evinde kanepede uyurken yaklaşık 4 kilogramlık bir göktaşı tavanı delip içeri girdi, radyoya çarpıp sekti ve kalçasına isabet etti. Hodges, göktaşı çarpmasıyla yaralandığı doğrulanmış çok az kişiden biridir.
Sylacauga, Alabama, 30 Kasım 1954

Yaklaşık 4,5 milyar yaşındaki taş, Sylacauga kasabasının üzerinde düşerken ikiye ayrıldı; ikinci parçayı birkaç kilometre ötede yerel bir çiftçi buldu. Hodges'ın kalçasında büyük bir morluk kaldı. Ev sahibi Birdie Guy, evin sahibi olarak taşın kendisine ait olduğunu ileri sürdü; Hodges sonunda ona 500 dolar ödeyerek göktaşını elinde tuttu. Peşini bırakmayan gazeteciler ve meraklılar onu çok yordu; 1956'da göktaşını Alabama Doğa Tarihi Müzesi'ne bağışladı ve taş bugün de orada sergileniyor. Olay, bir göktaşının bir insanı yaraladığı ilk iyi belgelenmiş vaka olarak anılır.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Sylacauga (meteorite)
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