[meteorite-list] NPA 10-02-1885 Stone Hurled From Heaven, Meteor Wrong

[MARK BOSTICK]

Paper: Keystone Courier
City: Connellsville, Pennsylvania
Date: Friday Morning, October 2, 1885
Page: 1

A Big Stone Hurled From Heaven.

     Washington county now has something new to brag about. Last Saturday 
loud detonations were heard over the county, the heavens flashed fire, the 
earth trembled, and godless cowered. Subsequent investigations developed the 
fact that these strange phenomena were due to the presence of a heavenly 
visitor in the shape of an aerolite, or meteoric stone, which foil upon the 
farm of a man named Buckland, in Jefferson township, near the West Virginia 
line. Ellis Jones, who witnessed the fiery creature in its flight through 
the heavens, said he had never beheld a more awful or impressive scene. His 
home suddenly stopped, and he heard a noise as if the winds were rushing 
onward with great violence. Looking up he saw moving high above him with 
incredible velocity a huge mass, which he describes as resembling a great 
coal of fire as large as the largest barn he ever saw. There appeared to be 
attached to it an immense flame of a deeper color than the coal, which 
tapered off into a dark tail with a sinuous trace. All in in a moment, the 
noise which accompanied it ceased; the fire like appearance, the flame and 
the black tail disappeared, and in their stead the stone assumed a whitish 
line, which it retained until it passed out of sight. His horse was so 
frightened that it took several minutes of vigorous application of a whip 
before the animal could be persuaded to move. He afterwards saw the stone 
when it was still hot. When the stone lit it broke into three pieces, and 
buried itself in the ground. It is grayish in color, with a tendency to red 
in streaks. Is irregular in form, and at least thirty feet square, although 
some place its dimensions at fifty feet square.
     Consternation seized upon the people who beheld it in its flight 
through the air, and those of a superstitious nature thought it laden with 
protents dire and awful, and that the spirit which causes war, pestilence 
and famine prevaded the fiery visitor. A great number of people have gone to 
see the wonder. Measures should have been taken early to preserve the stone 
intact. Up to this time the relic hunters have done remarkably well in 
carrying away souvenirs.

(end)

Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
Wichita, Kansas
http://www.meteoritearticles.com
http://www.kansasmeteoritesociety.com
http://www.imca.cc

http://stores.ebay.com/meteoritearticles

PDF copy of this article, and most I post (and about 1/2 of those on my 
website), is available upon e-mail request.

The NPA in the subject line, stands for Newspaper Article. The old list 
server allowed us a search feature the current does not, so I guess this is 
more for quick reference and shortening the subject line now.