[meteorite-list] The True Story of Ann Ho dges: History’s Only Meteorite Victim

[Michael Farmer]

None, not a gram.

Michael Farmer

> On Jan 18, 2015, at 1:42 PM, Shawn Alan via Meteorite-list <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> wrote:
> 
> Hello Frank and Listers
> 
> And its the second stone that was donated to the Smithsonian that is on
> the meteorite market from time to time. I wonder how much of the first
> stone that hit Mrs. Hodges is available to collectors? 
> 
> Shawn Alan
> IMCA 1633 
> ebay store http://www.ebay.com/sch/imca1633ny/m.html
> Website http://meteoritefalls.com 
> 
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] The True Story of Ann Ho dges: History’s
>> Only Meteorite Victim
>> From: Frank Cressy <fcressy at prodigy.net>
>> Date: Sun, January 18, 2015 11:37 am
>> To: Shawn Alan <shawnalan at meteoritefalls.com>,  Meteorite Central
>> <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>> 
>> 
>> Hello all, 
>> 
>> 
>> The article isn't clear where the stones are.  The meteorite that hit Mrs. Hodges is in the Alabama Museum of Natural History.  A second stone (3.75 kg) was purchased by Stuart Perry and donated to the Smithsonian.
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> 
>> Frank
>> 
>> On Saturday, January 17, 2015 12:23 PM, Shawn Alan via Meteorite-list <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Hello Listers
>> 
>> I wish I was a victim from a meteorite Lunar fall :)
>> 
>> Enjoy the TRUe STORy
>> 
>> Shawn Alan
>> IMCA 1633 
>> ebay store http://www.ebay.com/sch/imca1633ny/m.html
>> Website http://meteoritefalls.com 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> The True Story of Ann Hodges: History’s Only Meteorite Victim
>> January 16, 2015 
>> By First to Know
>> 
>> 
>> Getting hit by a falling meteor is far more uncommon than getting struck
>> by lighting. How uncommon you might ask?
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> There is only one confirmed person in history to have ever been hit by
>> one. And she had the evidence to prove it.
>> 
>> Back in November 1954, Ann Hodges was taking a nap in her Sylacauga,
>> Alabama, home when a rock about 12 inches in circumference came crashing
>> through the ceiling. The meteorite then collided with her thigh, leaving
>> behind a large, conspicuous bruise. Thankfully, it didn’t smash into
>> her head, or the scene would have been much more gruesome.
>> 
>> When word got around about the meteor, the entire town flocked to her
>> home. There were so many people curious to see what happened that she
>> became extremely nervous and had to be taken to the hospital. Because
>> she was a simple country woman, she wasn’t used to all the attention.
>> It made her frenzied.
>> 
>> The incident didn’t end there.
>> 
>> Despite a government geologist confirming that the object was, in fact,
>> a meteorite, police confiscated it and requested the Air Force’s
>> verification. Many people in the tiny town thought the smoke trails in
>> the sky and loud explosion meant a plane had crashed, while others,
>> paranoid by the Cold War, blamed the Soviets. The object needed some
>> clearing up.
>> 
>> Once verified, the only other thing left to do was figure out who the
>> rock belonged to. Of course, Hodges believed it was rightfully hers to
>> keep.
>> 
>> “I feel like the meteorite is mine,” she said, according to the
>> Alabama Museum of Natural History. “I think God intended it for me.
>> After all, it hit me!”
>> 
>> But, as luck would have it, she wasn’t the only person wanting to
>> stake a claim for the space rock. Her landlady, Birdie Guy, wanted to
>> keep it for herself.
>> 
>> Guy found a lawyer and sued Hodges, alleging that it was hers because it
>> landed on her property. Although the law was leaning in her favor, the
>> community wasn’t too happy about that verdict. So, in exchange for
>> $500, they settled out of court.
>> 
>> Soon after, the woman and her husband, Eugene, received an offer from
>> the Smithsonian for the rock, though they turned it down — hoping to
>> score a better offer. An offer they’d never get.
>> 
>> No one approached them to purchase the controversial entity. In 1956,
>> the Hodges wound up donating it to the museum. If you’re interested in
>> checking it out, it’s still on display.
>> 
>> The entire story is just a little heartbreaking, especially when you
>> consider that Ann suffered a nervous breakdown from the meteorite
>> hysterics.
>> 
>> According to the museum, “she never did recover” from the frenzy
>> that followed that fateful day.
>> 
>> The couple later separated, and, in 1972, she went on to die of kidney
>> failure in a nursing home.
>> 
>> She “wasn’t a person who sought out the limelight. The Hodges were
>> just simple country people, and I really think that all the attention
>> was her downfall,” explained museum director Randy Mecredy.
>> 
>> What makes this woman’s story so rare is that meteorites typically
>> fall into the ocean or land somewhere desolate (not on top of a woman
>> napping on her couch), according to Michael Reynolds, a Florida State
>> College astronomer.
>> 
>> “Think of how many people have lived throughout human history,”
>> Reynolds said. “You have a better chance of getting hit by a tornado
>> and a bolt of lightning and a hurricane all at the same time.”
>> 
>> In the photo above, Moody Jacobs reveals her bruise from the incident.
>> 
>> Source:
>> http://firsttoknow.com/true-story-ann-hodges-historys-meteorite-victim/
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