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Old 02-08-2016, 01:05 PM
 
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A college bus driver in Tamil Nadu, India was killed by what is suspected to be a meteorite that landed nearby. Two gardeners and a student were injured. The bus driver was walking near the location of the impact. Windows of the bus were damaged. A bluish or black pockmarked object, suspected to be the meteorite, was recovered from the crater. The object left a small crater. It's possible the object could be man-made space debris.

The article states this would be the first recorded death from falling space rocks in nearly 200 years (1825, Oriang, Malwate, India). Interestingly, NASA states that "...no human in the past 1000 years is known to have been killed by a meteorite or by the effects of one impacting."

Tamil Nadu Man Killed By 'Meteorite' May Be First In 200 Years

India official says meteorite killed bus driver on Chennai college campus - CBS News

Meteorite Killed Man at Indian College, Says Chief Minister - India Real Time - WSJ

Interesting meteorite falls

The Probability of Collisions with Earth




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agV3Rxn-rCc

Last edited by NightBazaar; 02-08-2016 at 02:29 PM..
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Old 02-08-2016, 01:41 PM
 
Location: in here, out there
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That's good to know, because if meteorites were literally raining down death from above life would get pretty scary here.
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Old 02-08-2016, 05:01 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles22 View Post
That's good to know, because if meteorites were literally raining down death from above life would get pretty scary here.
Indeed. It's a very rare accident. Most of the Earth's surface is covered by water and unpopulated land areas which is where most are likely to land. Still, it's possible a shower of meteoroids could "rain" down or perhaps fragments of a comet that had broken into pieces could hit the Earth. The problem is that most are too small to detect. Even so, death, damage and injuries would most likely be minimal, if any at all. Most would likely strike unpopulated areas.

The ones to be more concerned about are the bigger ones, asteroids, that could potentially cause more serious damage. One in March 5 is estimated to be about 100' in diameter (larger than the 65' one that exploded over Russia) and is expected to pass as close as 11,000 miles from the Earth to as much as 9 million miles. It's not expected to hit the Earth.
'Bigger Than Chelyabinsk' Asteroid To Skim By Earth | Orbit Animation

100-Foot Asteroid to Buzz Earth Next Month

Russian Meteor Explosion - All You Need About Chelyabinsk's Surprise Space Rock | Video
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Old 02-08-2016, 09:41 PM
 
Location: El Paso, TX
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In 2013, a rock which according to a scientist was a meteorite crashed through the roof of a house in Connecticut. No one was hurt though.

Meteorite crashes through roof in Connecticut, scientist says | Fox News

And in 2014, a man believes the car he was driving was struck by a meteorite.

Kettering man says meteorite hit his car | Dayton, OH News | www.whio.com

So while rare, encounters and close encounters with meteorites do happen.
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Old 02-10-2016, 11:26 AM
 
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NASA is saying that it's unlikely the Indian bus driver was killed by a meteorite. They don't think the object is a meteorite. "After reviewing photographic evidence, the US space agency told AFP that they did not believe the object was a meteorite."

Meteorite not responsible for killing man in India: NASA
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Old 02-11-2016, 01:41 AM
 
Location: When you take flak it means you are on target
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Interestingly enough - the chance of being killed by an Asteroid is 1 in about 74 million. While the odds of winning the mega millions lottery is 176 million to one.

So you have roughly 2 1/2 times the risk of being killed by a meterorite or asteroid than you do of winning the lottery. LOL
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Old 02-11-2016, 06:53 PM
 
Location: Baker City, Oregon
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Assuming it is true that he was hit:

He wasn't hit by a meteorite, he was hit by a meteor or more correctly a meteoroid.

Once the object that hit him came to rest on earth it became a meteorite.

However, if somebody then picked it up and beat him to death with it, ignore what I wrote above.

Meteorite | Definition of Meteorite by Merriam-Webster

Last edited by karlsch; 02-11-2016 at 07:08 PM..
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Old 02-17-2016, 03:24 PM
 
Location: Bel Air, California
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I generally place my arms over my head to prevent getting bonked by things falling out of the sky
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