Sussex man hit by meteorite

1:10pm Saturday 24th July 2010 in News By Giles Sheldrick

OUT OF THE BLUE: The meteorite pieces OUT OF THE BLUE: The meteorite pieces

Sussex cricket fan Jan Marszal looked up in amazement as he saw a small, dark round object hurtle towards him on the boundary edge.

But it was not one of Luke Wright’s mammoth pulls coming his way – it was a meteorite that had fallen from outer space – and nearly struck him on the head.

It’s thought to be the first extra-terrestrial crash landing in the UK for nearly 20 years.

The 51-year-old had spent Wednesday afternoon in Uxbridge with friend Richard Haynes watching Sussex battle with Middlesex in a county championship division two clash.

The pair – both Sussex members – were sitting square of the wicket watching England’s T20 hero Wright bat with Monty Panesar when they spotted the black, five-inch rock hurtling towards them. Mr Marszal, 51, an IT consultant from Blackboys, near Uckfield, said: “We were sitting at the boundary edge when all of a sudden, out of a blue sky, we saw this small dark object hurtling towards us.

“It landed five yards inside the boundary and split into two pieces.

“One piece bounced up and hit me in the chest and the other ended up against the boundary board.

“It came across at quite a speed – if it had hit me full on it could have been very interesting."

The pair have kept the seemingly extra-terrestrial pieces of rock for posterity and said they would be happy for experts to examine them.

Retired Mr Haynes, 52, from Haywards Heath, said: “We were quietly supping our pints, both looked up at the same time and saw a black object coming towards us – we didn’t know what it was.

“If it had come from the other direction we might have suspected someone had thrown it, but we saw it come in straight over the ground from quite a way out – it was definitely a meteorite.”

Meteorite expert Dr Matthew Genge, 42, of Imperial College, London, said: “If this turns out to be a meteorite it’s very exciting and would be the first fall in the UK since 1992."

Comments(27)

ICantThinkOfAName says...
1:41pm Sat 24 Jul 10

I was probably thrown by a football hooligan.

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Angryoldman says...
1:51pm Sat 24 Jul 10

It broke in two and a little green man popped out.
I'll have a pint of whatever they were drinking.

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Tammy Flugh says...
1:58pm Sat 24 Jul 10

I for one, welcome our new cricket-hating overlords.

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greggor says...
2:01pm Sat 24 Jul 10

He's missing a trick here,why doesn't he sell it?

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Gay Cavalier says...
3:37pm Sat 24 Jul 10

Thrown by a Football Hooligan no doubt! They really are atrocious thugs!

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The Good Driver says...
5:29pm Sat 24 Jul 10

That's a pretty bold statement by Dr Genge. How does he know no meteorites have fallen in the UK since 1992?
.
There could have been a load of them falling in remote areas or into lakes without anybody knowing of the event.

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John Steed says...
6:13pm Sat 24 Jul 10

pity it didnt fall outside the boundary and give sussex a tad of inspiration

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timfusciardi says...
7:00pm Sat 24 Jul 10

“If it had come from the other direction we might have suspected someone had thrown it, but we saw it come in straight over the ground from quite a way out – it was definitely a meteorite"

How can they "definitely" know it was a meteorite? They say they are happy for an expert to examine it, but why bother, they are sure its a metorite.

I got hit on the head the other day from a white substance, i looked up. No seagul over head. Could this too be something to do with space???

Sorry bad day, felt i would take it out on this website....

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kayotic says...
7:11pm Sat 24 Jul 10

Uxbridge is very close to Heathrow Airport. Could have been a piece of metal off of one of the many airliners round there.

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EroThraX says...
10:23pm Sat 24 Jul 10

=| Micrometeorites are hitting the UK pretty much non-stop, so I would imagine small meteorites of this size are pretty common as well, it's just unlikely that people see them impact usually.

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daveharris says...
2:17am Sun 25 Jul 10

Hi,

I am secretary of the British and Irish Meteorite society (www.bimsociety.org) . I would really appreciate if i could have a chance to examine this specimen.
Could someone at the argus call me? I believe you have my telephone number. This could be an important event!
thanks
dave

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smegbuster says...
2:37pm Mon 26 Jul 10

"...and nearly struck him on the head. " ...so, the headline is wrong then?
I was under the impression that even small meteorites would (due to the speed gained in the fall) create a crater rather than just splitting in two. Can anyone enlighten me on the smallest-sized meteorite that would be expected to leave a crater?
Security word (no kidding): hard-item !

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The Good Driver says...
2:52pm Mon 26 Jul 10

The headline is not wrong, assuming the facts are correct. A bit misleading maybe, but the meteorite did hit the gentleman, albeit after landing first.
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It might also be said that being hit in the chest does equate to 'nearly struck on the head'.
'
Having said that, if the hand in the picture is Mr.Marszal's and it is a '5 inch' meteorite, he must be a big bloke. Wonder how the '5 inches' was measured? Whatever was used, I'd like it to give me an official size on bits of my anatomy.

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smegbuster says...
3:00pm Mon 26 Jul 10

...hmmm... Sorry, it seems I rushed through this story a bit too quickly. I failed to notice the fact that it bounced and hit him, and I had read the size as 5cm rather than inches (perhaps because I saw the picture first). I too can think of a few things I would be happy to measure in centimetres but report in inches!

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smegbuster says...
3:02pm Mon 26 Jul 10

...mind you, the reverse would probably apply to my waist size!

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The Good Driver says...
3:16pm Mon 26 Jul 10

It's not only The Argus, of course. 'Eurosport' is now reporting the incident and apparently the meteorite 'soared' towards the gentlemen. Not quite sure how this thing 'soared' when it had presumably reached it's terminal velocity approaching the Earth.

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blueseagull says...
4:03pm Mon 26 Jul 10

Gay Cavalier wrote:
Thrown by a Football Hooligan no doubt! They really are atrocious thugs!
You obviously hate football and especially the Albion. (given the amount of posts you make having a go at the club or the fans!) Do you actually have a life? (Other than posting on here of course!) If you have that much time on your hands, why not take an English course? You could learn great things like, punctuation, spelling, where to put capital letters, etc, etc! Oh and since when did the atrocious thugs (such as football hooligans) throw meteorites from such a height?! I'd like to know how such an atrocious thug (obviously a Neanderthal man by your books!) could actually throw the thing so high, that it then comes down at such an angle and force that gravity would put on it?! I am deeply interested in your intelligent reply!!! from a rather disgruntled atrocious thug of an Albion fan!!!

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The Good Driver says...
4:08pm Mon 26 Jul 10

I think that should be a capital 'F' after !!!, blueseagull.......

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blueseagull says...
4:17pm Mon 26 Jul 10

Oh yeah! Schoolboy error! But I am allowed one mistake, he makes them all the time while having a go at us Albion fans and the club! I personally think he needs to stop, as it is tantamount to discrimination! As he would be the first to complain if he received any homophobic comments! So if you bother reading this reply. Leave our club and our peaceful fans alone!

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The Good Driver says...
4:23pm Mon 26 Jul 10

Should be a full stop after fans!). I make that two mistakes....

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blueseagull says...
4:29pm Mon 26 Jul 10

No it shouldn't as the exclamation mark suffices in this case! ;-) You would not have fans!. As that would be punctually incorrect. :-)

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The Good Driver says...
4:35pm Mon 26 Jul 10

The bracket after the exclamation mark means a full stop is required, rather than putting it after 'Albion'.

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Gazza says...
4:35pm Mon 26 Jul 10

14.33 And here we are at Uxbridge.

14.34 Sussex were batting 164 for 4 but the play has been suspended so the teams have gone in for an early tea due to a meteorite falling from the sky.

14.35 The 5-inch rock hit the middle wicket and Monty Panesar was run out for 34. The red-hot rock then bounced towards the spectators at Mac 19 sitting square with the wicket and broke into many fragments just before the boundary line with one piece hitting Mr Marszal Fall Square in the middle wicket. We all presumed Mr Marszal wasn’t wearing any lower protective gear as recommended by the M C C because he bent over touching his lower area in extreme pain, which brought tears to my eyes.

15.22 Anyway here come the teams again the wicket has been repaired and the rubble has been removed from the field of play let the match continue.

15.25 Wright hit the ball for 4 Sussex 168 for 5

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The Good Driver says...
4:41pm Mon 26 Jul 10

Must have lost a wicket between 15.22 and 15.25. Surely worth a mention?

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blueseagull says...
4:46pm Mon 26 Jul 10

Can't be real commentary?! Monty Panesar on 34???? ;-)

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Cheese Rolls says...
5:05pm Wed 28 Jul 10

The Good Driver wrote:
It's not only The Argus, of course. 'Eurosport' is now reporting the incident and apparently the meteorite 'soared' towards the gentlemen. Not quite sure how this thing 'soared' when it had presumably reached it's terminal velocity approaching the Earth.
A 'small' meteorite will still enter the Earth's atmosphere at up to can be from 10km to 70 km per SECOND. However the friction of the atmosphere would normally reduce this to something akin to throwing a stone of a tall building.

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The Good Driver says...
9:46pm Wed 28 Jul 10

Probably true, but 'soaring' does not go with something dropping from the sky, at whatever velocity. 'Soaring' is generally upwards, not necessarily vertically.
'
Perhaps they meant it 'soared' from the ground to his chest.

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