# "English Girl Hit By Meteorite" Questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 29, 2002, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-girl-hit-by-meteorite-questions/126097 "2002-08-29T14:51:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-girl-hit-by-meteorite-questions/126097/21 "2002-08-30T14:04:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by a\_gherkin \* > hmmm i feel reluctant to trust a site entitled ‘bad astronomer’!! Phil calls his site bad astronomy because he set it up to _debunk_ bad astronomy. Things like the moon landing conspiracy theories. He also has amusing movie reviews in which he points out where the movie got its science right and where the science is Bad. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-girl-hit-by-meteorite-questions/126097/22 "2002-08-30T15:11:56Z")
It was a _very_ small meteor(ite) - [(picture)](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2218755.stm) ---
**Author:** ![mikep777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@mikep777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikep777)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-girl-hit-by-meteorite-questions/126097/23 "2002-08-30T15:23:15Z")
From article: “The stone could have come from Mars, according to expert on Earth impacts Dr Benny Peiser…” Hmm… It was hot, it didn’t hurt when it hit her, and she saw it fall from roof height. From the looks of it, it could have come from the upstairs neighbor’s propane grill. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-girl-hit-by-meteorite-questions/126097/24 "2002-08-31T03:24:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > \*\*A meteorite has fallen, by definition, **when** it hits me; IMHO, hitting anything on the ground qualifies. The car did not become a “stopped car” by definition when it came into contact with me. \*\* Whose definition? Yours? Every dictionary I’ve checked (well all right, both of them :)) says simply that a meteor is a falling chunk of rock and a meteorite is a fallen meteor. There is no special element of the definition that a meteor transforms instantly to meteorite from the instant of touching ground. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-girl-hit-by-meteorite-questions/126097/25 "2002-08-31T04:57:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor \* > \*\* > > Actually, **bad astronomer** is “bad like Michael Jackson”. > > Actually, that’s the _only_ way **bad astronomer** is like Michael Jackson. > \*\* I’ve been known to wear only one glove sometimes. It’s hard to focus an eyepiece with gloves on. Anyway, we’ve been discussing this on my own bulletin board ([here, if you’re curious](http://www.badastronomy.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?topic=2090&forum=2&19)). My take on this is that it almost certainly isn’t a meteorite. It doesn’t sound like one from the story, and from the picture it doesn’t look like one. [Here is an article I wrote about a very similar story, with many pertinent common threads](http://www.faz.com/IN/INtemplates/eFAZ/archive.asp?doc=%7BC8C290AE-EFAE-11D4-B99E-009027BA226C%7D) (note: that article is sitting on a German server, and may be slow to load). I also got in a long conversation with someone about the meteor vs. meteorite naming convention. What if it hits an airplane? I decided, after much silliness, that the problem lies in our naming, and not the falling stars. We are trying to put a box around something that is inherently fuzzy, and it simply won’t fit. How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? [Is Pluto a planet?](http://www.faz.com/IN/INtemplates/eFAZ/docmain.asp?rub=%7BB1311FFE-FBFB-11D2-B228-00105A9CAF88%7D&doc=%7BAF052F32-DDA7-11D4-B99E-009027BA226C%7D) Arguing over it is missing the point. A rock by any other name would impact as sweetly. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-girl-hit-by-meteorite-questions/126097/26 "2002-08-31T05:01:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Uncle Toby \* > \*\*If only John Donne were alive to see it! \*\* 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-girl-hit-by-meteorite-questions/126097.md?page=1)