[meteorite-list] 50th Anniversary Of Sylacauga Meteorite Fall

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Dec 3 13:37:19 2004
Message-ID: <200412031836.KAA13789_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.nbc13.com/news/3963209/detail.html

Museum Celebrates 50th Anniversary Of Sylacauga Meteorite
    
Meteorite Literally Fell Into Hodges' Lap

NBC 13
December 1, 2004

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- It launched an Air Force investigation, a bidding
war and a lawsuit.

Fifty years later, people gathered in Tuscaloosa to commemorate the
landing of the country's most memorable meteorite.

"This is the only meteorite known to have injured a human being in
modern times," said Dr. John Hall, of the University of Alabama Museum
of Natural History.

The meteorite crashed through a roof in Sylacauga, and landed in Ann
Hodges? lap -- literally. The four billion-year-old piece of glass and
iron hit Hodges' home at several hundred miles an hour. It bounced off a
radio and bruised the woman's thigh.

It's now on display at the UA, where people gathered on Tuesday to
remember that fateful day.

There are two known witnesses who saw Hodges? meteorite fall from the
sky, and both are still excited to tell the story now as they were back
then.

"I saw this bright light come out of the sky. At the time, I thought it
was a big roman candle, you know?" said Donald Lovelace, who saw the
meteorite from the University of Alabama's quad.

Billy Field was just five-years-old at the time, in his family's yard in
Sylacauga.

"All of a sudden, a giant rocket of smoke crossed the sky. I remember
the white smoke and then an explosion," said Field.

"It's the story of what happens to a human being when something falls
through your roof and makes you famous whether you want it or not," said
Hall.

Hodges died decades ago, but her memory lives on because of an
eight-pound rock that crashed into her life.


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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/202038_rock03.html

50 years ago, meteorite left mark on couple
By ADAM JONES
THE TUSCALOOSA NEWS (Alabama)
December 3, 2004

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Eugene Hodges remembers the day his wife was hit by
a meteorite, but that's only the beginning of the story.

Ann Hodges was struck in the arm and hip by an 8.5-pound rock from space
50 years ago as she lay on a couch in her home near Sylacauga, Ala.

It's still the only verified instance of a meteorite hitting a person in
recorded history.

In the end, the meteorite wound up enclosed in glass on the second floor
of the University of Alabama Museum of Natural History. But a dispute
over its ownership left Ann Hodges emotionally scarred and contributed
to the couple's divorce 10 years later.

"I wish it'd never happened, but it did happen," said Eugene Hodges, 82.
"There's nothing we can do about it now."

The meteor, now known as the Hodges Meteorite, streaked into the home at
12:47 p.m. Nov. 30, 1954, as a fireball seen in three states.

"It came streaking across the sky, and then it exploded when it split in
two," said A.J. Powers, 84, who was about five miles from the Hodges' home.

"Everybody assumed because there was smoke behind it and the loud noise
that went with it that it was an airplane crash," said John Hall,
retired assistant director of the museum.

"Three states were looking for a downed airplane."

But in the era of flying saucers and the Cold War, many jumped to other
conclusions, said Hall, who has researched the event.

Powers, a longtime Talladega County historian, said his first thought
was the "Russians dropped a bomb."

Traveling several hundred miles per hour, the 4.6-billion-year-old,
pineapple-size chunk from the asteroid belt broke through the Hodges'
roof, crashed into a wooden floor radio and bounced onto the couch where
the 31-year-old woman lay.

The house filled with dust. Hodges and her mother, who was in the other
room, first thought either the chimney had fallen or the space heater
had exploded.

Then they saw the rock on the floor and Hodges' bruise and thought
someone had thrown it at the house. They called the police and Fire
Department.

After the authorities arrived, the town mayor, Ed Howard, called a state
geologist who was working at a quarry to look at the rock. He confirmed
it was a meteorite.

The word got out, Hall said.

But few people saw the meteorite that day because the Air Force started
an investigation, sending a helicopter and a team to take it before
sunset that day.

Meanwhile, Eugene Hodges didn't know what was going on in his living
room. He was near Alexander City clearing trees from telephone lines.

It wasn't until his drive home that somebody stopped him in Sylacauga to
tell him something crashed into his home and hit his wife.

By then, a line of cars led to the house, and townspeople were walking
through the front door and out the back to look at the hole in the
ceiling, Field said.

"I had a time getting in," Hodges said. "I had to push some out of my way."

He found his wife confused and bruised in the bedroom. The next day, a
local doctor checked her into the hospital mainly to shield her from the
public and media circus on their front lawn, Hall said.

Rumors fed by the media predicted the meteorite would be worth money,
and Eugene Hodges wanted his share of it.

"Hodges thinks, literally, this is going to make his fortune," Hall said.

A friend of the Smithsonian Museum came to town to buy the space rock,
and others followed.

Hodges said an Arizona museum wanted it, and Hall said one offer was
close to $5,500.

However, the Hodgeses didn't have the meteorite to sell, so Eugene
Hodges hired an attorney, Huel Love, to get it back from the Air Force.

"I wanted to see what come through my house," Hodges said.

The Air Force lost interest after it was proved not to be part of a
spacecraft, and Love flew to Washington, taking it back to the Hodges in
a well-publicized event.

Then another snag stopped Hodges from cashing in.

The couple's landlord, Birdie Guy, claimed the meteorite belonged to her
because it hit her property.

The attorneys sued each other for possession. The argument was painted
as a struggle between the injured Ann Hodges and the greedy landlord who
wanted the money.

The parties settled out of court, and the Hodgeses borrowed $500 to pay
Guy for the meteorite.

By February 1956, all the big offers were gone, and Hodges said the
meteorite was being used as a doorstop.

In March 1956, state geologist Walter Jones arranged for Ann Hodges to
donate it to the Alabama museum against her husband's wishes.

Hodges said she couldn't handle the attention and had a nervous
breakdown years later. She died in 1972.
Received on Fri 03 Dec 2004 01:36:37 PM PST