[meteorite-list] Backyard Crater in Rhode Island Spawns Questions

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Jul 13 15:02:33 2005
Message-ID: <200507131901.j6DJ1j410018_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.thewesterlysun.com/articles/2005/07/13/news/news3.txt

BACKYARD CRATER SPAWNS QUESTIONS
By Emily Dupuis
The Westerly Sun (Rhode Island)
July 13, 2005

WESTERLY - Ted Davidson woke early Saturday to find a small crater -
what he believes could be the impact of a meteorite - in his South Woody
Hill Road home's backyard.

Investigating the hole, measuring roughly 2-feet across and 5-feet deep,
Davidson, 57, said he doesn't believe it was caused by animals,
lightning, or "blue ice" falling from an airplane.

Citing reports of a meteor shower that night, he said he believes a golf
ball- or marble-sized meteorite - or "piece of space junk" - may have
plummeted into the yard from a northern angle.

"It must have been quite an explosion," he said Monday. The impact sent
grass and dirt flying several feet away, he added, pointing to some soil
scattered across the lawn and tufts of grass splattered roughly 7 feet
up on an Oak tree several feet away. Soil from the forest floor hidden 7
to 8 inches beneath the lawn churned to the top.

While he's curious to learn what object may be buried within, Davidson
has left the area cordoned off until astronomers at the University of
Rhode Island and Brown University reply to messages he left over the
weekend. He also planned to call the Seagrave Memorial Observatory in
Scituate.

Davidson said he suspects the meteorite fell sometime after midnight. He
and his wife Nadine did not hear anything before heading to bed around
10:30 p.m. Friday.

Had the object traveled 30 feet closer, the couple said their house
could have been struck.

"It could have gone right through the bedroom," Nadine Davidson said.

After living in the home for around 17 years, the Davidsons said they
have never seen or heard of a falling object landing nearby.

"The most exciting thing we have is lightning striking in the woods. And
I don't think this was lightning," Davidson said.

He discovered the hole as he left to fish around 5:30 a.m., and first
thought one of his chickens or another animal dug it. Lightning would
have been attracted to the nearby trees or artisan's well and blue ice
from an airplane restroom would have left visible remnants, he said.

His metal detector beeps when hovered over the crater.

"There's definitely something in there," he said, estimating a foot and
a half down.

Should scientists find anything, Davidson said he hopes to keep it.

"That's worth a lot of money - a piece of space," he said.

"I just wish I had been sitting on my porch and I would have seen it,"
he added. "Who else has a meteorite land in their yard?"
Received on Wed 13 Jul 2005 03:01:45 PM PDT