[meteorite-list] NPA 02-22-1934 Meteor Crushes Spanish Home, Fire Follows Crash

From: MARK BOSTICK <thebigcollector_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Dec 29 09:27:07 2004
Message-ID: <BAY4-F107B72DD4851B7A32209D9B39B0_at_phx.gbl>

Paper: Reno Evening Gazette
City: Reno, Nevada
Date: Thursday, February 22, 1934
Page: 1, continued on page 3

METEOR CRUSHES SPANISH HOME; FIRE FOLLOWS CRASH

Dense Column of Smoke Drops from Sky Into Building Is Claim

History Records Only Few Such Instances, Science Writer Asserts

     SEVILLE, Spain, Feb. 22. - (AP) - Francisco Megia told today his own
story of the destruction of his home by what he and all his neighbors at the
village of Rinconada believe to have been a meteor's fall.
HEARD ROAR
     Senor Megia and his family sat down in their home for lunch between
noon and 1 p.m. Sunday.
     Suddenly there was the noise as of an airplane flying low over the
cottage.
     Jose Megia, thirteen years old, rushed to the door. He saw a dense
column of smoke dropping from the sky toward the roof.
     Panic-stricken, he shouted his alarm.
     Sensor Megia tried to run to the door but a powerful column of air and
smoke knocked him down. Megia and his family said they smelled a heavy odor
of sulphur and burned coal.
SAVE MATTRESS
     The whole family rushed outdoors, carry only the mattress from a bed.
     As they attempted to return to the house for more belongings, they were
stopped by a short, deafening noise and their cottage was immediately
enveloped in flames.
     Farmers in the neighborhood head the noise and hastened to the aid of
the family.

(end)

By HOWARD W. BLAKESLEE
Associated Press Science Editor
     NEW YORK, Feb. 22 - (AP) - In all historical time only eight or ten
meteors have been authentically established as striking buildings, and none
of those destroyed the structure.
     But the chances for a meteor striking a house are probably greater than
this low average shows because the world in general has not recognized the
existence of meteors as such until very recent centuries.
NOT FOR JEFFERSON
     Even as late as Thomas Jefferson their existence was disbelieved and H.
H. Nininger of Denver, one of the foremost meteor experts, tell as a
historical fact that Jefferson as president, when told that a shower of
stones had fallen at Weston, Conn., said:
     "I would rather believe that those two Yankee professors would like
than that stones fell from heaven."
     The 'two professors; were Yale men, who had verified the Weston
meteors, which now are historically accepted.
     The Biblical account of Joshua raining stones on the enemies of the
Israelites is often taking as describing a fall of meteors. Stones would be
a literal description, for they are only two kinds of meteors so far known.
One is made of stone, the other of iron, or nickel-iron.
     Counting meteors which were actually picked up off the ground after
their fall had been seen, Mr. Nininger found a record all over the world of
130,000 individual pieces in 125 years up to 1925. These came from only 470
falls, showing that most of them fall in showers.
     These showers, particularly of the stony meteors, are fairly
commonplace. Usually the stones are small.
     Figuring on these and all the other available authenticated meteors Mr.
Nininger estimates that in the United States there should regularly pass
several generations without a death from being hit by a meteor.
NO HUMANS KILLED
     Verified records, however, do not tell of a single human death. The
closest call is attributed to a man in Mhow, India, who was injured by a
meteor on February 16, 1827.
     The meteors which have struck buildings were of moderate size, but big
enough to penetrate the roofs. There is no definite proof of one having
started a fire in a building, as the stones are usually nearly cool by the
time they reach the earth’s surface. Explosions of meteors are fairly
common. These bursts seem to occur at low altitudes, before the meteor
reaches the earth. There has been considerable doubt at to what might cause
them.
     The Seville reports indicate that the Rniconada meteor exploded within
the house.
     The only destructive meteor of modern time fell in Siberia on June 30,
1906. It fell in a forest, with such damage that there is reason to believe
it could have destroyed a small town, and perhaps inflicted an unbelievable
holocaust on a large city.
     The hills around the spot where this meteor fell were denuded of their
trees, which fell in windrows and were also badly scorched. The nearest
human witness seems to have been a farmer named Semenow. He was fifty miles
away and said he felt so hot he was afraid his clothes would catch fire. He
was knocked down and his house damaged.

(end)


Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
Wichita, Kansas
www.meteoritearticles.com
www.kansasmeteoritesociety.com
www.imca.cc
Received on Wed 29 Dec 2004 09:26:16 AM PST