Thread: Boy hit by 30,000 mph magnetic space meteorite, receives only a scar on his hand

Gerrit Blank, 14, was on his way to school when he saw "ball of light" heading straight towards him from the sky.

A red hot, pea-sized piece of rock then hit his hand before bouncing off and causing a foot wide crater in the ground.

The teenager survived the strike, the chances of which are just 1 in a million - but with a nasty three-inch long scar on his hand.

He said: "At first I just saw a large ball of light, and then I suddenly felt a pain in my hand.

"Then a split second after that there was an enormous bang like a crash of thunder."

"The noise that came after the flash of light was so loud that my ears were ringing for hours afterwards.

"When it hit me it knocked me flying and then was still going fast enough to bury itself into the road," he explained.

Scientists are now studying the pea-sized meteorite which crashed to Earth in Essen, Germany.

"I am really keen on science and my teachers discovered that the fragment is really magnetic," said Gerrit.

Chemical tests on the rock have proved it had fallen from space.

Ansgar Kortem, director of Germany's Walter Hohmann Observatory, said: "It's a real meteorite, therefore it is very valuable to collectors and scientists.

"Most don't actually make it to ground level because they evaporate in the atmosphere. Of those that do get through, about six out of every seven of them land in water," he added.

The only other known example of a human being surviving a meteor strike happened in Alabama, USA, in November 1954 when a grapefruit-sized fragment crashed through the roof of

a house, bounced off furniture and landed on a sleeping woman.

14-year-old hit by 30,000 mph space meteorite - Telegraph

Could be a lucky escape, if it had hit him on the head he could have been killed or had a migraine for weeks.

30,000 mph would more than likely prove to be a little bit more devastating than a headache i bet. lol

Wow. It made a foot wide crater in the ground and only left him with a scar.

"How'd you get that scar on your hand Gerrit?"
"Meteorite mate, shoulda seen what it did to the floor!"

If that isn't lucky I seriously don't know what is

Wow, thats crazy...I want to see a picture of the foot wide crater. It must of just skimed his head...like a bullet.

Wow, what an amazing stories...!

Footage:
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:energetic:

I'd want Heroes-like super powers if that happened to me.

At least now he has a good story to tell people.

I heard about this too and I am amazed he only had a scar on his hand. It would of killed him if it directly hit him.

Originally Posted by Destinyx3

I heard about this too and I am amazed he only had a scar on his hand. It would of killed him if it directly hit him.

Has anyone here done physics? It would be going VERY slowly by the time it hit him as the gravity and friction balance would be off. It would have hurt no more than a kid throwing a stone.

Wow. He was one really lucky dude!

It is destiny. I would get the stone with me if I had the same situation, and put it in my house as an symbol and memory.