The Sylacauga Meteorite

About 1 PM CST on November 30, 1954, Elizabeth Hodges of Sylacauga, Alabama, was slightly injured from bruising, when an 8 1/2-pound meteorite crashed through the roof of her house, smashed a wooden radio cabinet, and then hit her hand and hip as she lay dozing on her couch. She was bruised. She was pictured in the December 13, 1954, issue of Life magazine showing her bruised hip. Media reports at the time indicated people from Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi reported seeing a bright fireball in the afternoon sky. Witnesses heard three explosions near the time Hodges was struck. She was the first person to ever have been struck by a meteorite. An Air Force pilot from Maxwell Air Force Base flying at high altitude witnessed the fireball. Witnesses on the ground reported a black mushrooming cloud with a narrow cork screw tail at the bottom.

The grapefruit sized object (approximately 5 inches by 7 inches) became known as the Sylacauga or Hodges Meteorite. It is classified as an Ordinary Chondrite H-type, a common form of stony meteorite linked to S-type asteroids. It was found to cause a deflection on a magnetic compass needle.

The event created a national media frenzy, an investigation by the U.S. Air Force, and a dispute over ownership. Wishing to avoid continued media controversy, she donated it to the Alabama Museum of Natural History located in Smith Hall on 6th Avenue near the Quad on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa.

The largest fragment which hit Ms Hodges is known as the Hodges fragment. A second 3.75 pound (4 inch x 4 inch x 5 inch) fragment was found a day later on December 1, 1954 by J. K. McKinney in the middle of a dirt road near his farm and is known as the McKinney fragment. McKinney was driving a mule-drawn wagon with a load of firewood near his farm a few miles away. His mules reacted to the dark object on the road and he got out of his wagon to look at the strange rock and kick it off the road out of the way. The McKinney fragment is on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. It is believed there might be a third fragment, but none has been found.


References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylacauga_(meteorite)

Swindel, G. W.; Jones, W. B.; The Sylacauga, Talladega County, Alabama, Aerolite (CN=0863,332); Meteoritics, volume 1, number 2, page 125. (1954):
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1954Metic...1..125S&db_key=AST

Hodges Meteorite Strike (Sylacauga Aerolite):
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1280

A star fell on Sylacauga '54 meteorite struck home, woman, changed lives, by M.J. Ellington
http://legacy.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/061130/meteorite.shtml

My Top 10 Favorite Display Pieces in the Meteorite Exhibit at the Smithsonian' s National Museum of Natural History:
http://www.meteorite-times.com/Back_Links/2003/August/Accretion_Desk.htm

It Came From Outer Space
http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/web/20051130-meteorite-alabama-smithsonian-space-race-cold-war.shtml

UA Museum to Observe 50th Anniversary of Hodges Meteorite
http://uanews.ua.edu/anews2004/nov04/meteorite112404.htm

Alabama Museum of Natural History
http://www.ua.edu/academic/museums/history/wordpress/

Image links:


Looking up at the hole in the ceiling - 1

Looking up at the hole in the ceiling - 2

Ms Hodges holding the meteorite