[meteorite-list] The True Story of Ann Ho dges: History’s Only Meteorite Victim

From: Shawn Alan <shawnalan_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2015 13:42:38 -0700
Message-ID: <20150118134238.e8713c95af9984a493c5db01816d4c10.9a65986696.wbe_at_email22.secureserver.net>

Hello Frank and Listers

And its the second stone that was donated to the Smithsonian that is on
the meteorite market from time to time. I wonder how much of the first
stone that hit Mrs. Hodges is available to collectors?

Shawn Alan
IMCA 1633
ebay store http://www.ebay.com/sch/imca1633ny/m.html
Website http://meteoritefalls.com

> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] The True Story of Ann Ho dges: History?s
> Only Meteorite Victim
> From: Frank Cressy <fcressy at prodigy.net>
> Date: Sun, January 18, 2015 11:37 am
> To: Shawn Alan <shawnalan at meteoritefalls.com>, Meteorite Central
> <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>
>
> Hello all,
>
>
> The article isn't clear where the stones are. The meteorite that hit Mrs. Hodges is in the Alabama Museum of Natural History. A second stone (3.75 kg) was purchased by Stuart Perry and donated to the Smithsonian.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Frank
>
> On Saturday, January 17, 2015 12:23 PM, Shawn Alan via Meteorite-list <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> Hello Listers
>
> I wish I was a victim from a meteorite Lunar fall :)
>
> Enjoy the TRUe STORy
>
> Shawn Alan
> IMCA 1633
> ebay store http://www.ebay.com/sch/imca1633ny/m.html
> Website http://meteoritefalls.com
>
>
>
> The True Story of Ann Hodges: History?s Only Meteorite Victim
> January 16, 2015
> By First to Know
>
>
> Getting hit by a falling meteor is far more uncommon than getting struck
> by lighting. How uncommon you might ask?
>
>
>
>
> There is only one confirmed person in history to have ever been hit by
> one. And she had the evidence to prove it.
>
> Back in November 1954, Ann Hodges was taking a nap in her Sylacauga,
> Alabama, home when a rock about 12 inches in circumference came crashing
> through the ceiling. The meteorite then collided with her thigh, leaving
> behind a large, conspicuous bruise. Thankfully, it didn?t smash into
> her head, or the scene would have been much more gruesome.
>
> When word got around about the meteor, the entire town flocked to her
> home. There were so many people curious to see what happened that she
> became extremely nervous and had to be taken to the hospital. Because
> she was a simple country woman, she wasn?t used to all the attention.
> It made her frenzied.
>
> The incident didn?t end there.
>
> Despite a government geologist confirming that the object was, in fact,
> a meteorite, police confiscated it and requested the Air Force?s
> verification. Many people in the tiny town thought the smoke trails in
> the sky and loud explosion meant a plane had crashed, while others,
> paranoid by the Cold War, blamed the Soviets. The object needed some
> clearing up.
>
> Once verified, the only other thing left to do was figure out who the
> rock belonged to. Of course, Hodges believed it was rightfully hers to
> keep.
>
> ?I feel like the meteorite is mine,? she said, according to the
> Alabama Museum of Natural History. ?I think God intended it for me.
> After all, it hit me!?
>
> But, as luck would have it, she wasn?t the only person wanting to
> stake a claim for the space rock. Her landlady, Birdie Guy, wanted to
> keep it for herself.
>
> Guy found a lawyer and sued Hodges, alleging that it was hers because it
> landed on her property. Although the law was leaning in her favor, the
> community wasn?t too happy about that verdict. So, in exchange for
> $500, they settled out of court.
>
> Soon after, the woman and her husband, Eugene, received an offer from
> the Smithsonian for the rock, though they turned it down ? hoping to
> score a better offer. An offer they?d never get.
>
> No one approached them to purchase the controversial entity. In 1956,
> the Hodges wound up donating it to the museum. If you?re interested in
> checking it out, it?s still on display.
>
> The entire story is just a little heartbreaking, especially when you
> consider that Ann suffered a nervous breakdown from the meteorite
> hysterics.
>
> According to the museum, ?she never did recover? from the frenzy
> that followed that fateful day.
>
> The couple later separated, and, in 1972, she went on to die of kidney
> failure in a nursing home.
>
> She ?wasn?t a person who sought out the limelight. The Hodges were
> just simple country people, and I really think that all the attention
> was her downfall,? explained museum director Randy Mecredy.
>
> What makes this woman?s story so rare is that meteorites typically
> fall into the ocean or land somewhere desolate (not on top of a woman
> napping on her couch), according to Michael Reynolds, a Florida State
> College astronomer.
>
> ?Think of how many people have lived throughout human history,?
> Reynolds said. ?You have a better chance of getting hit by a tornado
> and a bolt of lightning and a hurricane all at the same time.?
>
> In the photo above, Moody Jacobs reveals her bruise from the incident.
>
> Source:
> http://firsttoknow.com/true-story-ann-hodges-historys-meteorite-victim/
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Received on Sun 18 Jan 2015 03:42:38 PM PST