• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Did That… Just Really Happen?

Did That... Just Really Happen?

Did that just really happen

  • World
  • U.S.
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Science
  • Health

Fragments from a ‘fireball’ meteor scattered across Mississippi

May 4, 2022 by Nena Serrano 1 Comment

WHAT’S BEING CLAIMED:

  • Mississippi residents are collecting fragments from the ‘fireball’ meteor that blazed across three U.S. states.
  • The meteorite was traveling at 35,000 mph (56,000 km/h) when it exploded at around 8:03 p.m. local time with the “energy equivalent of 3 tons of TNT.”
  • NASA requested the public to stop sending in meteorite fragments for analysis and recommended a self-test checklist from Washington University in St. Louis instead. 

Fragments from a meteorite are scattered across Mississippi, and residents started collecting them. A flaming meteor on April 7 blazed across and left remnants in three U.S. states, including Mississippi.

The authorities have declined to disclose the specific location where these meteorite fragments have been found but based on the information at hand, it is near Natchez, Mississippi.

There are a handful of people that witnessed the fireball incident at around 8:03 p.m. local time. Live Science said that at its peak the meteorite was 10 times brighter than the moon, adding that it created shockwaves when it landed and the energy released in the explosion is estimated at 3 tons of TNT.

Data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s GOES 16 and 17 satellites indicate that the meteor was moving at 35,000 mph (56,000 km/h) before it exploded. This is lower than the initial estimate at 55,000 mph (88,500 km/h) posted on Facebook.

NASA Meteor Watch shared a picture of the meteorite fragment, showing that the space rock is coal-colored. New Orleans reported that the fragment hit the ground at 200 to 300 mph (321 to 482 km/h).

NASA requested the public to stop sending in meteorite fragments for analysis. Instead, the department recommended a self-test checklist from Washington University in St. Louis to confirm if the fragment collected is a meteorite, and when it comes to these extraterrestrial rocks, finders keepers is the rule.

“Existing law states that any meteorites belong to the owner of the property on which they fell; out of respect for the privacy of those in the area, we will not disclose the locations of these finds,” the NASA Facebook post read.

Meteorites could be sold at different prices, depending on how uncommon it is. The most valuable are estimated at $1,000 per gram, this does not appear to be the case for those found in Mississippi. The pictures from people that collected these fragments indicate that these are chondrites or unclassified meteorites, which are priced at about $0.50 per gram.

Source: Live Science

Filed Under: Science, U.S. Tagged With: Meteor, Mississippi

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. CPO Bill says

    May 5, 2022 at 9:30 am

    Too bad it missed the liar in chief!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

More Interesting Stories

Japanese are going crazy over a backpack that looks like a real cat

WHAT’S BEING CLAIMED: Miho Katsumi created a backpack that looked like a real cat, and it is making waves on Twitter in Japan. These are handcrafted bags made using faux fur and 1 bag takes about 1 to 3 months to make. One bag is priced at 140,000 Japanese yen ($1,074). Miho Katsumi created hand-sewn […]

Fountain of Youth: Fecal transplants could be the next big anti-aging hack

WHAT’S BEING CLAIMED: Fecal transplantation is demonstrated to reverse age-associated inflammation that causes a decline in tissue function, a new study finds. The researchers said that this improves understanding of the importance of microbiota composition and how it could be involved in disease development The paper was published in Microbiome. As a person grows older, […]

NASA to send nude pictures of people to space to ‘attract aliens’ [Video]

WHAT’S BEING CLAIMED: In the hope of luring aliens to Earth, NASA is planning to send naked pictures of humans into space. The naked man and woman in the photos are waving to make them look more inviting. The image was revealed as part of a project called the “Beacon in the Galaxy” (BITG) which aims […]

Wild fox kills 25 flamingos at Smithsonian’s National Zoo

WHAT’S BEING CLAIMED: A wild fox broke into an outdoor flamingo habitat at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington D.C. on Monday. The fox killed 25 American flamingos and one Northern pintail duck. According to the zoo, it is the first time a wild predator has broken into the mesh exhibit since it was built […]

Copyright © 2022 Who Knew News.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Do Not Sell My Info