Hi all - "lime green" - what is sylacuaga made of?
good hunting, Ed --- Ron Baalke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/061130/meteorite.shtml > > [Photo] > The late Dr. Moody Jacobs in 1994 with a copy of the > Dec. 13, 1954, > issue of Life magazine, which featured a story about > the Sylacauga > meteorite. In the black-and-white photo on the > table, Jacobs points to > the large bruise on Ann Hodges' left hip after it > was struck by the rock. > Daily file photo by Daniel Giles > > A star fell on Sylacauga > '54 meteorite struck home, woman, changed lives > By M.J. Ellington > The Decatur Daily (Alabama) > November 30, 2006 > > Sylacauga residents old enough to remember a famous > meteorite strike > there 52 years ago may understand why Decatur-area > residents were so > curious about a lime-green object streaking across > the night sky Tuesday. > > People began calling 911 lines when the object > appeared at 5:28 Tuesday, > bright enough for residents of Morgan and Cullman > counties to wonder if > the object they saw was a plane crashing or the > result of an explosion. > > On today's date in 1954, Sylacauga residents and > others from as far away > as Tuscaloosa saw a strange object streaking across > the early afternoon > sky and heard noises they described as explosions or > loud booms. > > That afternoon, a Sylacauga-area woman who was not > feeling well was > asleep on her living room sofa. She woke up when an > 8½-pound object > crashed through her living room ceiling, bounced off > a console radio, > struck her left hip and bruised her left hand. > > The incident put 34-year-old Ann Elizabeth Hodges in > the history books > as the only documented case of a human struck by a > meteorite. It also > added former Decatur physician Moody Jacobs to the > history books as the > only doctor who ever treated a person struck by a > meteorite. > > Ann Hodges never fully recovered from the incident > that put a > grapefruit-sized bruise on her left hip and left > permanent emotional > scars. She died of kidney failure in 1972 at a > Sylacauga nursing home. > The 52-year-old woman's family buried her in Charity > Baptist Church > cemetery in Hazel Green. > > Dr. Jacobs was only a year out of medical school > when he treated Hodges > that day. Within a few years, he moved his medical > practice to Decatur > and lived in the city until his death in 2001. > > On Tuesday night, firefighters and police searched > Morgan and Cullman > counties for an airplane crash or other evidence to > explain the > mysterious sight in the sky. They found no fire, no > smoke, no trace of > the object that caused curious residents to make > calls to the emergency > number and The Daily. > > Experts speculate that the object was a meteoroid or > man-made space > junk. An object as small as a golf ball could > produce the reaction that > caused such curiosity among people in the area, > experts said. > > Imagine the atmosphere in Sylacauga in 1954, when > there was no Internet, > few televisions and longer time lags between news > reports. In that era, > people were anxious about atomic bombs, flying > saucers and aliens from > outer space. They were curious about how that > particular star fell on > Alabama. > > John C. Hall was custodian of the Hodges meteorite > during his years as > assistant director of the Alabama Museum of Natural > History at The > University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where the > object is on permanent > display. > > Though Hall retired from the museum, he continues to > research the Hodges > meteorite and a related incident involving a > fragment of the meteorite > that broke off and landed less than three miles > away. > > Hall believes that Ann Hodges, her husband, Eugene > Hulitt Hodges, and > the couple's landlady, Birdie Guy, were all victims > of the culture of > the times. > > The Hodgeses' rented, white-frame house on Oden's > Mill Road in the Oak > Grove community was across the road from the Comet > Drive-In Theater, > complete with a neon sign that showed a comet > streaking toward the heavens. > > Hall told a gathering at the Alabama Department of > Archives and History > that after years of research, his talks on the > meteorite have changed. > Instead of just telling a dramatic but quirky story > from Alabama > history, he tries to set the record straight about > the events. > > Hall believes that the continued media attention, > curiosity seekers and > dashed hopes about the initial financial potential > of the famous rock > added to Ann Hodges' problems. She finally gave the > object, then in use > as a doorstop, to the museum. > > Eugene Hodges was frustrated that first day by the > crowds at his home. > Hall said Hodges was also upset that police officers > and government > officials took away the meteorite without his > family's permission. > > Hodges worked with a lawyer who secured the > meteorite's return, but he > saw the potential for fortune fade in legal battles > over its ownership. > > The Hodgeses divorced in 1964. Eugene Hodges, now > past 80, still lives > in Central Alabama. > > Court battle over rock > > Landlady Birdie Guy wanted the hole in the roof of > her house repaired > and believed as property owner the meteorite > belonged to her. She fought > the Hodgeses in court and won in multiple appeals. > > Hall said Guy came across negatively in news reports > that wrongly > depicted her as greedy. The Hodgeses finally paid > Guy $500 for the > meteorite, which by then was no longer in demand by > people willing to > pay their price. > > Years after the Hodgeses moved away, the rental > house caught fire and > the Guy family demolished it to make room for a > mobile home park. > Nothing marks the spot that made meteorite history. > > Black farmer a winner > > Hall believes the only person with a positive > experience in the incident > was Julius Kempis McKinney, a black farmer. The day > after the meteorite > struck the Hodges house - Dec. 1, 1954 - McKinney > was driving a > mule-drawn wagon with a load of firewood a few miles > away. A black rock > in the road caused his mules to balk. McKinney > pushed the strange rock > to the side of the road and continued home. That > night, after hearing > reports of the Hodges incident, McKinney went back > to the site, picked > up the rock and took it home where his children > played with it. > > The farmer told his postman, the only person he > trusted with the > information. The postman helped McKinney find a > lawyer to negotiate the > sale of the object. > > Experts later confirmed that the 3¾-pound object was > a smaller part of > the Hodges meteorite that apparently split off as it > entered the > atmosphere. > > Bought car, house > > McKinney sold the rock to an attorney from > Indianapolis who purchased it > for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. > While the McKinney > family never revealed the amount received from the > sale, Hall said > researchers said it was enough for the family to > purchase a car and a > new house. > > Bill Field, who as a 5-year-old saw the meteor from > his Sylacauga home, > shares Hall's opinions about the people most > affected by the incident. > > "I was standing in the back yard with my mother, who > was at the > clothesline," Field recalls. "I remember this object > shooting across the > sky with a white trail that I pointed out to my > mother. There was a loud > boom and black smoke." > > Field grew up to be a filmmaker who researched the > incident, and > interviewed Eugene Hodges and other people who > recalled the meteor. > Field bought the movie rights and sold his movie > script to 20th Century > Fox. > > No movie was ever made, but the incident had a > permanent impact on > Sylacauga. > > "It was the biggest thing to literally ever hit the > town," said Field, > who now lives in Tuscaloosa. > > You say meteor, I say meteorite > > The difference between a meteor, a meteoroid and a > meteorite: > > Meteor: The flash of light we see in the night sky > when a small chunk of > interplanetary debris burns up as it passes through > Earth's atmosphere. > It's the flash of light, not the debris. > > Meteoroid: The debris itself, a piece of > interplanetary matter smaller > than a kilometer and frequently only millimeters in > size. Most > meteoroids that enter the Earth's atmosphere are so > small they vaporize > completely and never reach the planet's surface. > > Meteorite: The part of a meteoroid that lands on > Earth. > > NASA > > ______________________________________________ > Meteorite-list mailing list > [email protected] > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
