Close Encounter Of The Rock Kind
06/12/09 - Amazing
“The odds of it happening are astronomical, but not impossible, as one schoolboy found out when he was struck by a passing meteorite. The rock flew down from space at speeds of 30,000mph, and grazed past 14-year-old Gerrit Blank as he made his way to school. The meteorite continued on before ending its billion-year intergalactic journey on the pavement, leaving a smoking, foot-wide crater. Gerrit was left with a scar on his hand, making him one of only a handful of people to have been struck directly by a meteorite. The student, from Essen, Germany, said: ‘At first I just saw a large ball of light, and then I suddenly felt a pain in my hand.” w/ photos
