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Re: meteorites hitting vehicles

Thanks for the time spent on the calculations!! I have estimated crudely that a 
one gram meteorite lands in a field that is 85 acres in size. A ten gram 
meteorite should land on a area of ground 850 acres large.

Some 21,000 to 22,000 meteorites land on the surface of the Earth each year 
that are over 100 grams in size and an estimated 7,500 land on land each year  
(or so it has been estimated by a Canadian study). Twice that many land on 
Earth that are 50 grams in size.

It would be interesting to see what a 50 gram solid meteorite would do to 
aluminum or plastic at 500 to 600 miles an hour. The car struck in Illinois was 
hit when there weren't too many cars. I agree that it is just a random chance 
happening though, and that's what makes it fascinating.

Nobelsville, IN. two boys were nearly struck by a 500 gram meteorite while out 
in the yard but perhaps human surface area is much greater than aircraft area.

Perhaps I should put away my catchers mit when outside :-)

--AL