[meteorite-list] DIXON SPRINGS BOY CLAIMS CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH METEORITE

From: E.L.Jones <jonee_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:41:10 2004
Message-ID: <3A8947A7.5D30FFDA_at_epix.net>

DIXON SPRINGS BOY CLAIMS CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH METEORITE

                                     By Linda A. Krutsinger
                                     The Southern Illinoisan
                                     [Fri Jan 12 2001]

                                     CARBONDALE -- The sky did indeed
fall for 11-year-old Darin Thompson Jan. 7,
                                     while he was traversing a country
lane on the way to his cousin's house.

                                     "I was just walking along and saw
this meteorite," the Dixon Springs resident said
                                     matter-of-factly as he sat with his
hands folded in his lap, the chunk of rock in
                                     front of him. "It scorched the
grass and burnt a hole in my glove because I picked
                                     it up right away."

                                     Young Thompson, along with his dad
Tony, spent Friday afternoon at Southern
                                     Illinois University Carbondale's
geology department letting the "experts have a
                                     look" at the baseball-sized rock.

                                     "They could not determine if it was
a meteorite or not," the elder Thompson said.
                                     "The guy we talked to said it
didn't look like the one they had, but he could not
                                     say for sure.

                                     "He said we should probably contact
the museums in Chicago or get on the
                                     Internet and see if someone can
help us," he said.

                                     The youngster, who said he wasn't
really all that interested in having the
                                     "unidentified" piece examined all
that much, said that he was "pretty surprised
                                     when the chunk fell about 5 feet
from him that winter afternoon.

                                     "It just kinda whomped into the
ground right next to me," he said. "I took it to
                                     school and showed the other kids,
but they didn't believe me. The teachers did
                                     though.

                                     "I kinda have an interest in
studying astronomy, but not as much as my brother,"
                                     he said, a closed-mouth grin
breaking his face. "I like math and physics, stuff like
                                     that.

                                     "The guy at the college said I had
a good eye for geology though," he said.

                                     The Pope County boy had several
theories to explain the unusual event.

                                     "I was thinking that maybe it could
have been the earth before but a big huge
                                     crater sent it back into space and
it just now came back," he said. "Or maybe it
                                     came from a volcano on Jupiter.

                                     The elder Thompson said that he
does plan to continue looking for an interested
                                     party in the object, a quest he
said is prompted partly by curiosity.

                                     "If this is something that no one
has ever seen before, then we need to get
                                     someone to look at it," Thompson
said. "The SIU guy also said that this could
                                     prove valuable, and who knows?
Maybe it will help pay for Darin's college."

                                     Darin, when he isn't avoiding being
a target for falling meteorites, says that he
                                     likes to play video games, listen
to the radio, play ball and his guitar.

                                     His plans for the object, though,
are rather sedate in comparison to the
                                     excitement he felt when he found
the item.

                                     "I will probably just keep it on my
desk and let it sit so long it will probably grow a
                                     new fungus," he said.
Received on Tue 13 Feb 2001 09:42:33 AM PST