Although there are not many incidents of meteorites falling on the earth, whenever they have happened, they have definitely been in the headlines for a long time. The most recorded incident of a meteorite falling on a human being happened on November 30, 1954 in Sylacauga, Alabama, USA. On this day in the afternoon, a rock from space fell on the roof of the house, which created a hole in the roof. After this, it hit the left side of the body of Ann Hodges who was lying on the sofa below. But Ann’s survival in that accident was no less than a miracle.
The small, 8.5-pound, 4.5-billion-year-old black space rock is on display at the Alabama Museum of Natural History on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa. Before the meteorite fell into Ann’s living room, people in Sylacauga and throughout eastern Alabama saw “a bright red light like a Roman candle.”
When the meteorite fell and hit Ann, the house was filled with dust, and initially it was thought that a chimney had collapsed or a space heater had exploded. But after seeing the stone on the floor and the large pineapple-shaped wound on her body, Ann’s mother called the police and the fire brigade.
Pieces of rock hit the left side of a woman named Ann Hodges. (Photo courtesy: Facebook)
The Sylacauga police chief confiscated the black rock and gave it to the Air Force; normally, things like meteorites belong in museums, but Ann demanded that the rock be returned to her. But Ann lived in a rented house, and the landlord, Birdie Guy, also claimed the meteorite. After months of legal battles, the case was settled out of court and Ann and her husband paid their landlady $500 for the meteorite.
Perhaps Ann and Eugene Hodges hoped they could make a lot of money by auctioning off the meteorite, but they were disappointed that no one offered them anything. For a while, the family used the stone as a doorstop before donating it to the Alabama Museum of Natural History, where it still remains. Ann died of kidney failure in a local nursing home at just 52 years old.
Tags: Amazing news, Bizarre news, OMG News, Weird news
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 8, 2024, 13:42 IST
