[Rockhounds] Shooting Star: French Woman Sitting on Her Terrace Struck By Mystery Space Rock

[Rik Dillen]

Hi all,

Sounds very interesting, but...
First: 'Alsace' is not the name of a village, but the name of a region ('...what happened to a woman in the village of Alsace located in eastern France.'...) Secondly there are serious doubts whether it was actually a meteorite. See e.g.
https://www.cieletespace.fr/actualites/non-personne-n-a-ete-blesse-par-une-meteorite-en-alsace (Website of 'Ciel et espace', a magazine on astronomy etc. that I consider as quite reliable) https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/grand-est/bas-rhin/non-une-meteorite-n-est-pas-tombee-sur-le-toit-d-une-maison-en-alsace-2813702.html
https://www.rtl.fr/actu/debats-societe/alsace-une-habitante-a-t-elle-vraiment-ete-frappee-par-une-meteorite-7900283252
https://www.midilibre.fr/2023/07/18/une-meteorite-a-t-elle-vraiment-heurte-le-toit-dune-maison-en-alsace-non-repondent-les-specialistes-11348198.php

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https://www.angersmag.info/pas-de-meteorite-sur-toit-maison-alsace_a5812.html
Contrairement à ce qu’affirment de nombreux titres de presse, ce n’est pas une météorite qui a heurté le toit d’une habitante de Schirmeck (Bas-Rhin) début juillet 2023. Le musée de minéralogie de Strasbourg est formel.... Dans les jours qui ont suivi l’incident, plusieurs planétariums ont commencé à douter de cette version. Le réseau vigie-ciel de Strasbourg, spécialisé dans la détection de météorites, affirme n’avoir rien remarqué ce matin-là. Certains avancent même l’hypothèse de cambrioleurs qui auraient jeté une pierre sur la maison pour vérifier si quelqu’un s’y trouvait…
*************  

I am skeptic about this news story. It is not impossible that it turns out to be some form of 'fake news', but I'm not sure, of course.
In the first place scientists said that at first sight it doesn't look as an meteorite at all, but rather as some kind of scoria (natural - ergo volcanic - or industrial). It's trajectory was not detected by any local detection system, and its speed was quite low, as it has not perforated the roof, but landed on it and just fell off.

I could even imagine that someone just threw a rock (or a piece of scoria) on the roof....
Sometimes UFO's can be explained by a very simple explanation...
An intriguing story it is, anyway.

Best regards,

Rik Dillen

-----Original Message-----
From: Rockhounds <rockhounds-bounces at rockhounds.drizzle.com> On Behalf Of Kreigh Tomaszewski
Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2023 3:45 AM
To: Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem collectors <rockhounds at rockhounds.drizzle.com>
Subject: [Rockhounds] Shooting Star: French Woman Sitting on Her Terrace Struck By Mystery Space Rock

Can you imagine quietly sipping coffee and minding your own business when a random rock coming all the way from outer space decides to pick beef with you? As outlandish as this sounds, this is exactly what happened to a woman in the village of Alsace located in eastern France.

As per the French newspaper Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace (DNA), the woman was sitting outside on her terrace, chatting with a friend when the mysterious pebble hit her in the ribs earlier this month, on July 6.

While calling the object a pebble could make it sound harmless, it still managed to leave a bruise.

“I heard a big 'Poom' coming from the roof next to us. In the second that followed, I felt a shock on the ribs,” the unidentified woman told the French newspaper.

She mistook it for an animal, perhaps a bat, at first, but she soon realised that it resembled a piece of cement — the kind applied to ridge tiles. Except, it was colourless.

When she got it checked by a local roofer, he suggested that it could be a meteorite. Further examination by geologist Dr Thierry Rebmann only confirmed its extraterrestrial origins.

https://weather.com/en-IN/india/space/news/2023-07-17-french-woman-sitting-on-her-terrace-struck-by-meteorite
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