-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] The
True Story of Ann Ho dges: History¹s
Only Meteorite Victim
From: Frank
Cressy <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, January 18, 2015 11:37 am
To:
Shawn Alan <[email protected]>, Meteorite Central
<[email protected]>
Hello all,
The article
isn't clear where the stones are. The meteorite that hit Mrs. Hodges is
in
the Alabama Museum of Natural History. A second stone (3.75 kg) was
purchased
by Stuart Perry and donated to the Smithsonian.
Cheers,
Frank
On Saturday, January 17, 2015 12:23 PM, Shawn Alan via Meteorite-list
<[email protected]> wrote:
Hello Listers
I
wish I was a victim from a meteorite Lunar fall :)
Enjoy the TRUe STORy
Shawn Alan
IMCA 1633
ebay store
http://www.ebay.com/sch/imca1633ny/m.html
Website http://meteoritefalls.com
The True Story of Ann Hodges: History¹s Only Meteorite Victim
January 16, 2015
By First to Know
Getting hit by a falling meteor
is far more uncommon than getting struck
by lighting. How uncommon you might
ask?
There is only one confirmed person in history to have ever
been hit by
one. And she had the evidence to prove it.
Back in November
1954, Ann Hodges was taking a nap in her Sylacauga,
Alabama, home when a
rock about 12 inches in circumference came crashing
through the ceiling. The
meteorite then collided with her thigh, leaving
behind a large, conspicuous
bruise. Thankfully, it didn¹t smash into
her head, or the scene would have
been much more gruesome.
When word got around about the meteor, the
entire town flocked to her
home. There were so many people curious to see
what happened that she
became extremely nervous and had to be taken to the
hospital. Because
she was a simple country woman, she wasn¹t used to all the
attention.
It made her frenzied.
The incident didn¹t end there.
Despite a government geologist confirming that the object was, in fact,
a
meteorite, police confiscated it and requested the Air Force¹s
verification.
Many people in the tiny town thought the smoke trails in
the sky and loud
explosion meant a plane had crashed, while others,
paranoid by the Cold War,
blamed the Soviets. The object needed some
clearing up.
Once verified,
the only other thing left to do was figure out who the
rock belonged to. Of
course, Hodges believed it was rightfully hers to
keep.
³I feel like
the meteorite is mine,² she said, according to the
Alabama Museum of Natural
History. ³I think God intended it for me.
After all, it hit me!²
But,
as luck would have it, she wasn¹t the only person wanting to
stake a claim
for the space rock. Her landlady, Birdie Guy, wanted to
keep it for
herself.
Guy found a lawyer and sued Hodges, alleging that it was hers
because it
landed on her property. Although the law was leaning in her
favor, the
community wasn¹t too happy about that verdict. So, in exchange
for
$500, they settled out of court.
Soon after, the woman and her
husband, Eugene, received an offer from
the Smithsonian for the rock, though
they turned it down < hoping to
score a better offer. An offer they¹d never
get.
No one approached them to purchase the controversial entity. In
1956,
the Hodges wound up donating it to the museum. If you¹re interested
in
checking it out, it¹s still on display.
The entire story is just a
little heartbreaking, especially when you
consider that Ann suffered a
nervous breakdown from the meteorite
hysterics.
According to the
museum, ³she never did recover² from the frenzy
that followed that fateful
day.
The couple later separated, and, in 1972, she went on to die of
kidney
failure in a nursing home.
She ³wasn¹t a person who sought out
the limelight. The Hodges were
just simple country people, and I really
think that all the attention
was her downfall,² explained museum director
Randy Mecredy.
What makes this woman¹s story so rare is that meteorites
typically
fall into the ocean or land somewhere desolate (not on top of a
woman
napping on her couch), according to Michael Reynolds, a Florida
State
College astronomer.
³Think of how many people have lived
throughout human history,²
Reynolds said. ³You have a better chance of
getting hit by a tornado
and a bolt of lightning and a hurricane all at the
same time.²
In the photo above, Moody Jacobs reveals her bruise from the
incident.
Source:
http://firsttoknow.com/true-story-ann-hodges-historys-meteorite-victim/
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