# Meteor just hit here in SE Michigan. Woah. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 17, 2018, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791 "2018-01-17T02:09:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/41 "2018-01-17T19:39:02Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Meteor shit! ROTFLMAO! A geologist could easily tell if a rock was a meteorite, or just a rock, or refer the owner to someone who could. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/42 "2018-01-17T19:48:00Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > A geologist could easily tell if a rock was a meteorite, or just a rock, or refer the owner to someone who could. The average geologist has probably handled as many meteorites as the average American veternarian has treated coatimundi. (The same goes for astronomers.) You really need to go with a professional [meteoriticist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoritics) or an experienced collector. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/43 "2018-01-17T21:56:41Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Here is an astronomer guessing “around Mount Clemens”, which is far east of my guess. The site I linked earlier now has [an incident report](https://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2018/168) up. I was hoping the viewing directions would be useful, but I can’t make out anything useful in the tangle. The place where the meteor explodes is not where the meteorites land–the fragments continue to travel forward in “dark flight” for miles after that–the bigger pieces travel further than the smaller ones (air resistance slows the smaller pieces more quickly.) Assuming that the explosion happend roughly over the densest clump of reporters, (and that it was traveling east to west) then the fall is going to stretch out over an area to the west of that clump–so, closer to Lansing than Mount Clemens. > > I also saw another piece on Google News speculating about the pieces going for $300 per gram, to which I say, not bloody likely. Depending on how much there is, I say closer to $50 to $100 per gram. That’s the rough price range for comparable recentish witnessed falls in the US like [Park](http://fernlea.tripod.com/park.html) [Forest](http://michaelbloodmeteorites.com/Hammers3.html) and [Ash](http://outofabluesky.com/meteorites-for-sale/stoney-meteorites/ash-creek-west-l6/) [Creek](http://www.meteoriteguy.com/adventures/ashcreek/ashcreektexas.htm). I live in downtown Mount Clemens, and was hoping I’d see a fresh impact in the snow from my window. No luck. I shall remain a thousandaire. Meteors make me think of Creepshow every time. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/44 "2018-01-17T23:15:20Z")
I’m not finding a trace of anything from the timeframe and location [on doppler radar](https://weather.us/radar-us/michigan/reflectivity/KGRR_20180117-0207z.html). That [doesn’t leave me confident](https://www.meteorite-times.com/bobs-findings/meteorites-wisconsin/) that there is much of anything on the ground to find. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/45 "2018-01-18T00:13:26Z")
On the July day when I first saw corn smut in my backyard garden, I got cold chills. I thought, “A lot of monster movies start like this!” ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/46 "2018-01-18T00:22:41Z")
I’m scared to even google “corn smut” ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/47 "2018-01-18T00:36:04Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > What did God say after he tried to destroy Detroit? > > “God dammit, I missed!” That’s not the first time, either. Pops lived in Detroit when he was a kid. One night, when he was already tucked in bed, a bright flash lit up the room. His parents and older sister were out on the porch at the time and saw the meteor go by. IIRC, it crashed across the river, about 30 miles into Ontario, though I don’t know if anyone ever found any of it. This was in the late 30’s or early 40’s and Pops was young enough to spend the rest of the night worried about a meteor hitting their home. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/48 "2018-01-18T01:39:46Z")
> [@Hopeful\_Crow](#): > > That’s not the first time, either. Pops lived in Detroit when he was a kid. One night, when he was already tucked in bed, a bright flash lit up the room. His parents and older sister were out on the porch at the time and saw the meteor go by. IIRC, it crashed across the river, about 30 miles into Ontario, though I don’t know if anyone ever found any of it. This was in the late 30’s or early 40’s and Pops was young enough to spend the rest of the night worried about a meteor hitting their home. You have a very rare thing here–an ancestor’s childhood story of an observed meteor that crashed over the horizon from them that [actually](https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?code=7731) [checks](http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/2014/07/10/dresden-meteorite-came-to-earth-75-years-ago) [out](https://dicktheblogster.blogspot.com/2011/11/july-11-1939-night-historic-meteorite.html)! (BTW, if you want a piece of your father’s meteorite, [here’s](http://www.meteorlab.com/METEORLAB2001dev/offering21o2a.htm) a 2.94g piece for $347.) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/49 "2018-01-18T03:02:19Z")
Doesn’t matter how often or infrequent the stories, I always think meteors are cool. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/50 "2018-01-18T05:03:21Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > I’m scared to even google “corn smut” It looks nasty, but not in a way one might think. It’s perfectly SFW. I have heard that it’s a delicacy in some Central American regions. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/51 "2018-01-18T08:13:10Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > I’m scared to even google “corn smut” Warning: NSFW [Female Genitalia](http://c8.alamy.com/comp/A31TAN/developing-ear-of-field-corn-showing-corn-kernel-ovary-with-silk-pistil-A31TAN.jpg) [Male genitalia](http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/e6133bc2b96746459bfc6b5c39828e18/close-up-dried-corn-maize-flowers-j14rey.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/52 "2018-01-18T13:32:58Z")
The local news is reporting that a guy walked into a pawn shop with what he claimed was a piece of the meteor. Turns out it was a hunk of concrete. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/53 "2018-01-18T15:22:24Z")
There are three types of people who try to sell [meteorwrongs](http://meteorites.wustl.edu/meteorwrongs/meteorwrongs.htm)–conmen, the honestly mistaken, and the fucking insane. The difference between the honestly mistaken and the fucking insane is that the honestly mistaken will be disappointed when they are told the truth while the fucking insane will decide that there is a vast conspiracy among scientists to deny them the vast wealth that they are _owed_ for their meteorite treasure. (Yes, meteorite scientists get insane obsessed stalkers, too.) A few months back a couple claimed to have found meteorites in their yard in Hilton Head, SC. There was no meteor reported by anyone, and while the (not very good) photos of the rocks did resemble weathered meteorites, they looked nothing like fresh ones. That couple most likely bought some cheap African desert meteorites on Ebay and hoped to sell them for a profit. Expect the same thing to happen with people claiming to have pieces of this one. ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/54 "2018-01-18T21:21:41Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > I’m scared to even google “corn smut” It’s an edible fungus that grows on corn. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/55 "2018-01-19T01:28:47Z")
Just saw another meteor 15 minutes ago, almost 48 hours to the minute after the big one on Tuesday. Was driving and saw a light hover in the sky, I thought it was a bright star, but then it dropped slightly and then shot off. No flash or bang like the other one, but what’s the deal with the meteors over Michigan this week? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/56 "2018-01-19T01:30:12Z")
The Pod People are landing. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/57 "2018-01-19T01:39:05Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Just saw another meteor 15 minutes ago, almost 48 hours to the minute after the big one on Tuesday. Was driving and saw a light hover in the sky, I thought it was a bright star, but then it dropped slightly and then shot off. No flash or bang like the other one, but what’s the deal with the meteors over Michigan this week? I don’t see that in the news yet. I heard nothing. Are you sure? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/58 "2018-01-19T01:45:41Z")
I didnt hear anything either and it wasn’t a flashy thing. Just a very bright & low shooting star. Not especially newsworthy, and I wouldn’t have even mentioned it here if this thread hadn’t already been here. It was sorta surprising for me, however, as I’ve never actually seen one move across the sky like that aside from those regular meteor showers we get every august, and those always seem to be smaller and higher up. I’m in west Michigan, Holland, FYI. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/59 "2018-01-19T01:59:28Z")
I believe you **Happy**. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791/60 "2018-01-19T02:10:46Z")
I was in Mt. Clemens at the time but I didn’t hear anything. I didn’t hear anything about it until after I got home that night. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteor-just-hit-here-in-se-michigan-woah/806791.md?page=4)