[meteorite-list] Mystery Object From Sky Identified as Woodchipper Part

From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2007 21:58:41 -0500
Message-ID: <005101c7c9b0$b7bea460$ac2ee146_at_ATARIENGINE>

Hi,

    A meteor-wrong from New Jersey identified so quickly,
there's no prolonged dicussion. The "other" case they're
referring to is the Bloomington, Illinois Object from last
March, which took over a week to be identified as a
woodchipper part. They don't mention the equally unlikely
New Jersey Object of last winter. In this case, the hexagonal
holes in the object make it a dead giveaway, I would think.


Sterling K. Webb
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http://www.space.com/news/ap_070718_bayonne_update.html

Mystery Object From Sky Identified as Woodchipper Part
By The Associated Press, 18 July 2007, 4:27 p.m. ET


BAYONNE, N.J. (AP) -- A hunk of metal that crashed
through the roof of a home had NASA and Federal Aviation
Administration officials scratching their heads.

It didn't look "very space-y,'' said Henry Kline, a spokesman
for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
"It's obviously made for something ... But we wouldn't know
what to do with it.''

It didn't appear to be an airplane part either, the FAA said.

Finally, FAA spokesman Jim Peters said Wednesday, a colleague
in his office solved the mystery: It was part of a commercial
woodchipper. The same part from another woodchipper's
grinder had caused similar confusion last year, he said.

How it got on a Bayonne roof was anyone guess, but Peters
had a theory. The grinder piece moves very fast and, apparently,
it can launch into the air if something goes wrong.

The man who lives in the house was watching television
Tuesday when he heard a crash and saw a cloud of dust.
In the next room, he found the hunk of gray metal, 3 1/2
inches by 5 inches, with two hexagonal holes in it.

The part was being returned to Bayonne Police on
Wednesday, Peters said.

"It belongs to somebody,'' Police Director Mark Smith
said.
Received on Wed 18 Jul 2007 10:58:41 PM PDT