Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


10

Schoolboy Survives Meteor Strike

Red-hot chunk of rock traveling 30,000 miles an hour bounced off boy's hand

Share

(Newser) – A 14-year-old German schoolboy survived with just a scar on his hand after being hit by a meteorite traveling 30,000 miles an hour, the Daily Telegraph reports. The red-hot pebble buried itself in the road after bouncing off Gerrit Blank, who doused it with a drink, dug it out of its crater, and took it to school. Tests confirmed that the pea-sized rock came from space.

"At first I just saw a large ball of light, and then I suddenly felt a pain in my hand," Blank said. "Then a split second after that there was an enormous bang like a crash of thunder.” An Alabama housewife hit by a meteorite in 1954 is the only other person known to have survived a meteor strike.

A meteorite, tracked on its fall from space by scientists, lies in the Sudan desert.
A meteorite, tracked on its fall from space by scientists, lies in the Sudan desert.   (AP Photo/NASA)
Around 3,000 meteorites hit the Earth daily, but strikes on humans are extremely rare.
Around 3,000 meteorites hit the Earth daily, but strikes on humans are extremely rare.   (Shutterstock)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

When it hit me it knocked me flying and then was still going fast enough to bury itself into the road. - Gerrit Blank

The noise that came after the flash of light was so loud that my ears were ringing for hours afterwards.
- Gerrit Blank

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.24.09
Murdoch and Microsoft: The Mice Are Trying to Roar
11.23.09
Books Are Bad for You
10 comments
VIEWING:
 
JonmarkP
Jun 13, 09 3:44 AM CDT
Now THAT is winning the lottery! Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+4
jeangnome
Jun 13, 09 6:55 AM CDT
Wouldn't something traveling fast enough to bury itself in the ground be more likely to pass through the hand than bounce off it? This sounds a bit fantastical to me. Unless this kid is Superman in disguise and can dodge bullets!! Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+1
IN RESPONSE:
Jes
Jun 13, 09 3:50 PM CDT
It didn't "bounce off" it was simply a glancing blow instead of a direct hit.
Vote up! Vote down!
+1
TerrifiedCitizen
Jun 13, 09 8:09 AM CDT
Perry Como http://www.links2love.com/lyrics-catch-a-falling-star.htm Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
Alexandria
Jun 13, 09 9:32 AM CDT
That is so awesome! Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0

View all 10 comments »

LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

12 Stories

In Meteor, NASA Sees Best Evidence Yet of Life on Mars

Martian meteorite shows fossilized bacteria

Nov 26, 09 6:17 PM CST
(Newser) - A Martian meteorite that hit Antarctica 13,000 years ago offers “very strong evidence of life on Mars,” say NASA scientists after concluding that microscopic worm-like structures in the rock are almost certainly fossilized bacteria. The meteorite, which broke off the Red Planet millions of years ago, also... More »

MORE ABOUT:
NASA • Mars • Antarctica • meteorites • life on Mars • fossilized bacteria

 Mobile Firm's 
 Meteor Stunt 
 Backfires 

Hoaxed Latvians plan to cancel Swedish company's contracts

Oct 28, 09 4:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Swedish mobile phone company has dug itself into a crater with a marketing stunt involving a fake meteorite. Tele2 dug a hole in a meadow in Latvia and placed burning chemicals in the bottom to simulate a meteor strike, making headlines worldwide and fooling emergency services into cordoning off... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iraq • hoax • meteorites



 UFO Saved Earth 
 in Suicide Mission: 
 Russian Scientist 

He points to mysterious crystals as proof

May 27, 09 2:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - Alien spacecraft crashed into a giant meteor 100 years ago to stop it from hitting Earth, according to a Russian scientist. Most scientists say an exploding meteorite caused 1908’s Tunguska event, which flattened 80 million trees across 100 miles. But researcher Yuri Labvin says crystals found in sparsely populated... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Russia • Siberia • space • UFO • aliens • meteor • Yuri Labvin

12 Stories


Meteor survivor plans to study science
The Local

Last confirmed strike on a human was in 1954
Wired


World  •  Science & Health 
TwitterFollow @NewserWorld on Twitter

 
meteor • meteorites

from our news partners