[meteorite-list] Mystery Ice Chunk Falls From Sky in California

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Aug 16 11:01:22 2005
Message-ID: <200508161500.j7GF0MD00566_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.nbc4.tv/news/4855338/detail.html
  
Mystery Ice Chunk Falls From Sky, Makes Big Hole
FAA Investigates Ice Ball Origins
NBC 4 TV News
August 15, 2005

FONTANA, Calif. -- A huge chunk of ice that crashed through the roof of
a home in Fontana is at the center of a Federal Aviation Administration
investigation Monday.

The ice does not appear to be of the "blue ice" variety that usually
falls from airplane toilets, NBC4 reported.

The origin of the ice appeared to be a bit of a mystery.

It's a mystery that homeowner Johnny Worthy would like to solve -- if
only so he can get some sleep.

Worthy keeps the ice ball that nearly killed him Saturday night in a big
plastic jug next to the TV dinners in his freezer.

It scared the daylights out of Worthy when it slammed into his house
while he was doing dishes.

"There was a loud explosion and a concussion of the house, and it like
scared me to death," Worthy said.

When he peeked around the corner, Worthy saw the ice, slowly melting
into his living room carpet.

"It made a loud explosion," he said. "It was like nothing I'd heard in
my life."

All the neighbors came out in their yards, Worthy said.

Worthy's daughter thinks the ice hunk is a weather anomaly called
"megacryometeors," with mega standing for "big" and "cryo' for ice.
Megacryometeors are unexplained ice balls that fall from the sky and
usually weigh between 25 to 30 pounds.

Worthy still wants more concrete answers.

"Every time I lay down in the bed, and I look up at the ceiling, I'm
afraid something's going to hit me," Worthy said.
Received on Tue 16 Aug 2005 11:00:22 AM PDT