[meteorite-list] Spike from space

From: chris aubeck <caubeck_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon May 3 07:51:16 2004
Message-ID: <20040503115113.94183.qmail_at_web50805.mail.yahoo.com>

Hi listfolk,

Can anyone tell me what they think this might have
been?

Was the "spike" a genuine meteoric artefact? I've
never heard of anything like it. What about the
"glass"?

Just curious to test the validity of these old
articles...

Many thanks,

Chris

*************************************************


1919 01 30 New Oxford Item(Pennsylvania) - 1919-01-30

Meteor Drops Souvenir

While pruning an apple tree on Wed-
nesday, Joseph F. Fox, residing in Fred-
erick county, noticed what he thought to
be broken glass on the ground, and upon
looking around to see what had happened,
found upon a small limb, about 12 feet
from the ground and five feet from the the
trunk, a strange-looking object sticking
straight up in the air. He sawed off the
limb, which was only an inch and a half
in diameter. The object is a mass of fus-
ed metals, six inches long, weighing
about two pounds, thought to have been
thrown from the meteor that on Sunday
evening, January 12, interested all of
Southern Pennsylvania and Maryland.

This is the first fragment of the meteor
that has been found. A piece of metal,
resembling iron, protrudes from the mass
like a spike, and the point of this struck
the top of the limb, embedding itself in
the wood about an inch.

The Elyria (Ohio) Evening Telegram, Wednesday
1919-01-15

Exploding Meteor
Shakes Maryland

Baltimore, Jan 15--All of Western
Maryland from Baltimore City to the
Blue Ridge mountains was brilliantly
illuminated shortly after six o'clock
Sunday evening by a giant meteor, the
flash terminating in an explosion
which startled residents of Hagers-
town, Frederick city, Westminster
and other towns on the railroads near
those towns.

The meteor apparently descended to
within a hundred miles of the earth's
surface, according to some scientific
observers, and then exploded. Some
observers in the western section of the
state thought an airplane motor had
exploded and looked for falling wreck-
age.

Instead of causing a shower of frag-
ments, the detonation seemingly mark-
ed the entire destruction of the body.
This fact classified the meteor to sci-
entists as the bolide variety which
destroyes (sic) itself instead of causing a
shower of brilliant debris.

1919 01 23 The Frederick Daily News, MD, , Thursday,
1919-01-23

MOLTEN MASS ON TREE
FRAGMENT OF METEOR

Strange Find of Joseph E. Fox,
Near Troutville.

EMBEDDED OVER INCH DEEP

>From Object, Iron-like Spike Pro-
trudes Around Which Are Pieces of
Glass--Eologist [sic] Wants Informa-
tion.

WANTS REPORT
ON METEORITE

Postmaster Williamson has re-
ceived a letter from Lee P. Mer-
rill, head curator of Geology of
Smithsonian Institution, Wash-
ington D.C., requesting informa-
tion in regard to the meteorite
which was observed in Washing
ton also. He states that accord-
ing to best reports the meteorite
was traveling in a northwest direct-
tion. Postmaster Williamson has
advised Prof. Merrill of the small
fragment found by Mr. Fox.

Sticking straight up, on a small
limb of an apple tree, a queer-look-
ing mass of material weighing sev-
eral pounds has just been found
which is thought to be a fragment
from the meteor which startled all
Maryland and adjoining States on
Sunday evening, January 12. The
piece of supposed meteor was found
by Joseph F. Fox on his farm on the
road between Creagerstown and
Woodsboro, at Troutville. All who
have seen the strange looking object
feel sure that it must have fallen
from the heavens during that odd dis-
play that was noticed over such a
wide area. Pieces of the falling me-
teor are reported to have been found
in different places, one as far remote
as Winchester, Va.

Mrs. Margaret Ledgewood, a neigh-
bor, happened to notice the flash of
light and she thought at the time that
lightning probably had struck a
house nearby. The apple tree where
the fragment was discovered is about
midway between the two homes. It
is probable that the object which
embedded itself in the tree was part
of a molten mass that lightened the
skies and attracted her attention.

The object was found by Mr. Fox
when he was about to prune the tree.
He noticed fragments of what he took
to be broken glass under the tree and
he wondered what it could be. He
looked up and was surprised to see,
out on a small limb about 12 feet
above the ground and about 5 feet
from the trunk an object sticking up
and fastened to the limb. Struck by
the unusualness of the thing, he saw-
ed the limb off to find just what it
was. Today he brought it to Fred-
erick and showed it at the News-Post
office.

The limb in which the object em-
bedded itself is about an inch and a
half in diameter. The object is about
5 1/2 inches long. The weight of the
foreign mass is about two pounds, it
is estimated. It is obvious that the
object is the fusion of molten mate-
rials and metals. There is a mix-
ture of colors which indicates a num-
ber of metals. In a few places there
is something that resembles pure
lead. Part of it look like glass that
has been subjected to intense heat.
There are streaks of red like iron
ore, and also a color that reminds one
of sulphur.

What makes the object all the more
of a curiosity is the fact that from
the center protrudes a pointed spike
of what looks to be iron. It was the
end of this spike that entered the
limb and fastened itself there. The
spike part looks as if it were fash-
ioned by man. The spike or prong
that is visible now is 2 1/2 inches long
and at the largest part is a half inch
through, tapering down toward the
point which is not visible, being in the
wood. When the object was found
very little of the spike part showed,
parts of the mass having been broken
off since revealing more of the prong.
The mass about the prong is pear-
shaped and at the largest part is
several inches in diameter. The spike
part is slightly bent, which leads one
to think that it was hot when it
struck the tree.

It is most remarkable that this ob-
ject fastened where it did. From the
split in the limb it can be seen that
it fell just recently. It struck almost
exactly in the center of the small
limb. It is apparent that the reason
the limb was not broken off nor split
in two was because of the spring af-
forded the limb at this point. Had
the fragment struck a person or ani-
mal it would most likely have caused
death.



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Received on Mon 03 May 2004 07:51:13 AM PDT