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Sunday 14 June 2009

As if there wasn't enough to worry about

I read that:
"A 14-year-old German lad survived a close encounter with a meteorite when a pea-sized piece of rock travelling at 30,000 mph left him with nothing more than a "nasty" three-inch gash on his hand.

According to the Telegraph, Gerrit Blank was on his way to school in Essen when a bright light in the sky heralded the arrival of the red-hot space rock. It bounced off his hand before embedding itself in a foot-wide crater in the ground."

1 comment:

Doubting Richard said...

Sorry for the pun, but the odds this guy survived are astronomical. I studied geology, and we did look at some of the risks. He is only the second person ever known to have been hit. The energy in that piece was far greater than in a bullet (which could never make a foot-wide crater). So to be hit is astounding, to be hit and survive with only a minor injury is truly awesome. Bet he wishes he'd bought a Euromillions ticket instead!