Date:         Fri, 17 Jan 2003 16:59:49 -0500
Reply-To:     David Brodbeck <gull@CYBERSPACE.ORG>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Brodbeck <gull@CYBERSPACE.ORG>
Subject:      Re: Friday - hazards to our van (LVC)
Comments: To: developtrust <developtrust@COX.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <001701c2be6f$f3597a50$6601a8c0@tdaoffice>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

On Fri, 17 Jan 2003, developtrust wrote:

> I just still do not believe a meteor will slow down enough to cause such
> minor damage. It has to be a hoax.

I don't think the damage is actually all that 'minor'.  A lot of energy
was dissipated in deforming and puncturing all that sheet metal.  If you
look closely, the *whole car* is deformed -- notice the uneven gaps at the
tops of the doors. The photo appears to have been taken inside a garage;
that suggets that either the photo was staged after the car had been moved
(which would explain the lack of an impact crater) or the meteor was
slowed somewhat by punching through the roof before hitting the car.
Either way, it would have lost a lot of momentum in the process of
crumpling the unlucky Chevy.

There's also this page, which goes into great detail about the meteor,
including the fact that it was videotaped during its descent by no fewer
than 16 people: http://uregina.ca/~astro/mb_5.html   A Google search will
turn up several more references.  I don't think it's a hoax.

             _ _
  __ _ _   _| | |  | David M. Brodbeck (N8SRE)              Ypsilanti, MI
 / _` | | | | | |  +-----------------------------------------------------
| (_| | |_| | | | @ cyberspace.org
 \__, |\__,_|_|_| "To the optimist, the glass is half full.  To the
 |___/             pessimist, the glass is half empty.  To the engineer,
                   the glass is twice as big as it needs to be."