Mystery of meteorite solved (From The Argus)
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Mystery of meteorite solved
10:00am Friday 30th July 2010 in News By Giles Sheldrick
The mystery surrounding an apparent “meteorite” that fell to earth, almost hitting a cricket spectator, has finally been solved by space experts.
Jan Marszal, from Blackboys, near Uckfield, thought he had struck gold when a fiveinch piece of black rock landed near to where he and his friend Richard Haynes were watching Sussex play Middlesex at Uxbridge.
The rock landed inside the boundary rope, split into two pieces, popped up and hit him in the chest.
He was so convinced it was a piece of space rock that he immediately sent it away for expert analysis.
But last night Dave Harris, 51, co-founder of the British and Irish Meteorite Society, said: “I’m afraid it’s nothing more than a piece of Portland cement with flecks of brick dust and flint in it.
“It is most probably something that fell off the undercarriage of a plane. It was not like a meteorite at all.”
The sample was also sent to renowned planetary scientist Professor Colin Pillinger who led the Beagle Mars lander project in 2003.
He also agreed the rock was not a meteorite.
Mr Marszal, 51, an IT consultant, said: “I had never seen a meteorite before so didn’t know what one looked like – but it came down from the sky and I couldn’t think what else it could have been.
“I am disappointed but in some ways I glad it’s all over and we now know what it is.”
Since it first appeared in The Argus on Saturday the meteorite story has been picked up by newspapers, radio stations and television networks across the world.
Mr Marszal even received a surprise call from excited astronomy expert Sir Patrick Moore.
Sir Patrick, 87, of West Street, Selsey, near Chichester, said: “I would be surprised if it was a meteorite but it’s difficult to tell one from an ordinary piece of rock.”
Comments(16)
daveharris
says...
11:01am Fri 30 Jul 10
Sorry, that is an appalling mistake to make!
ho hum....
LMS
says...
11:16am Fri 30 Jul 10
“It is most probably something that fell off the undercarriage of a plane."
Why would it be on the undercarriage in the first place?
BriCo
says...
11:22am Fri 30 Jul 10
perhaps he can start a column in the Argus - Mystic Moore!
So much for the abilities of Argus editors!
RickH
says...
11:40am Fri 30 Jul 10
LMS wrote:Thought had crossed my mind - maybe its a polite way of saying someone was telling a few fibs ;)
"Portland cement with flecks of brick dust and flint in it. “It is most probably something that fell off the undercarriage of a plane." Why would it be on the undercarriage in the first place?
Tammy Flugh
says...
12:01pm Fri 30 Jul 10
Tammy Flugh
says...
12:03pm Fri 30 Jul 10
LMS wrote:From minor runway damage, possibly.
"Portland cement with flecks of brick dust and flint in it.
“It is most probably something that fell off the undercarriage of a plane."
Why would it be on the undercarriage in the first place?
Interociter
says...
12:06pm Fri 30 Jul 10
Next week, how aliens may have landed in Brighton during the night, and were invisible, and left no trace.
Angryoldman
says...
12:19pm Fri 30 Jul 10
How gullible people are.
still waiting
says...
12:52pm Fri 30 Jul 10
Jo Wadsworth
says...
1:42pm Fri 30 Jul 10
daveharris wrote:Thanks for pointing that out Dave - it's now been corrected
Oh dear..."astrologer"? So much for the promotion of the public understanding of science.
Sorry, that is an appalling mistake to make!
ho hum....
RickH
says...
2:20pm Fri 30 Jul 10
Interociter wrote:Funny how in this article the object hit the ground, then hit the man in the chest. No mention of being hit at all in the earlier article (although the headline did state man hit by meteorite but article never did). I guess anyone being hit by a meteorite would certainly know about it - even one that relatively small size
Ah, the Brighton Argus - never letting a lack of facts get in the way of publishing a story. Why wait when you can publish a second story explaining how the first story was incorrect due to lack of facts? Next week, how aliens may have landed in Brighton during the night, and were invisible, and left no trace.
Morpheus
says...
2:54pm Fri 30 Jul 10
John Steed
says...
4:16pm Fri 30 Jul 10
Tammy Flugh
says...
5:31pm Fri 30 Jul 10
Jo Wadsworth wrote:Good. He'd have been spitting rivets if he had read that.
daveharris wrote:Thanks for pointing that out Dave - it's now been corrected
Oh dear..."astrologer"? So much for the promotion of the public understanding of science.
Sorry, that is an appalling mistake to make!
ho hum....
140258
says...
9:27am Sat 31 Jul 10
Andy R says...
10:04am Fri 30 Jul 10