# Welp, the aliens are finally attacking **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 18, 2023, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015 "2023-02-18T21:51:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [February 18, 2023, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/1 "2023-02-18T21:51:44Z")
This week we had a meteorite strike in France on Monday, Italy on Tuesday, and Texas on Wednesday. French piece [![](https://i.imgur.com/Grv66Zg.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/Grv66Zg.jpeg) Italian fragments [![](https://i.imgur.com/0XkVLLP.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/0XkVLLP.jpeg) (I don’t have a photo of Texas pieces, but some have been found.) Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/2 "2023-02-18T21:57:04Z")
If we hadn’t mistaken their scientific observation platform for a Chinese spy balloon and shot it down we’d still be fine. Thanks Biden. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/3 "2023-02-18T21:59:23Z")
We send them Chuck Berry and they send us…rocks. Fuck ‘em! ---
**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:** [February 18, 2023, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/4 "2023-02-18T22:02:12Z")
I just noticed that the meteorite fragments in the second photo are sitting on aluminum foil (as the top one is more obviously). So kudos to both groups for knowing [the recommended procedure](https://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/meteorite-falls/how-to-handle-meteorites/) for keeping a fresh meteorite as uncontaminated as possible. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/5 "2023-02-18T22:03:02Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > We send them Chuck Berry and they send us…rocks. Fuck ‘em! Clearly the aliens misunderstood Chuck singing, “Hail, hail, rock and roll.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/6 "2023-02-18T22:04:33Z")
It was probably the red Tesla Roadster that really sent them over the Moon in a rage. And now they’re enacting their revenge. Perhaps we can launch Elon on a one-way trip to Saturn on a Falcon as penance. Maybe they’ll appreciate the irony. If they don’t, we will. Seriously there @Darren_Garrison , that’s really a cool set of finds. Is there any evidence or supposition that they’re connected in any way? All part of one shower, fragments of one larger rock, etc.? ---
**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:** [February 18, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/7 "2023-02-18T22:16:44Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Is there any evidence or supposition that they’re connected in any way? All part of one shower, fragments of one larger rock, etc.? I don’t know. Three witnessed, recovered falls in three days has never happened before (I don’t know if three in three _months_ has happened before.). It is conceiveable that we could spend days passing through the debris of one asteroid breakup–after all, periodic meteor showers are spread out over several days. All being witnessed falls, they will be able to calculate the rough orbit of each of them, and they will all be studied in great detail (including with [ion microprobes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitive_high-resolution_ion_microprobe)) and know if they came from the same parent body, so we will have a definite answer soon. I’m guessing really freaky coincidence because randomness is lumpy, though. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2023, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/8 "2023-02-19T00:35:09Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > found.) Texas. [![](https://i.imgur.com/nWP53SI.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/nWP53SI.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/9 "2023-02-19T00:37:55Z")
We had a muffled explosion earlier. Maybe in the (too close for comfort) next county. If any thing turns up I’ll report back. If … resistance isn’t futile, that is.👽 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/10 "2023-02-19T17:14:12Z")
Do meteorites make a War of the Worlds style crater? ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/11 "2023-02-19T17:18:33Z")
I can’t help thinking that @Hatchie is connected to this somehow. ETA this [thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-earth-the-1-planet/919032) is why I think that way. I’m tellin’ ya, it’s a ‘spiracy! ---
**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:** [February 19, 2023, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/12 "2023-02-19T18:19:19Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Do meteorites make a War of the Worlds style crater? Sometimes. [http://www.geotimes.org/july08/article.html?id=feature\_meteorite.html](http://www.geotimes.org/july08/article.html?id=feature_meteorite.html) ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/13 "2023-02-19T21:08:55Z")
Have any radioactive meteorites ever been found. Indeed, are they even possible? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/14 "2023-02-19T21:25:14Z")
Every time I hear, “meteorite,” I think, “Andromeda Strain.” Damn you, Michael Crichton! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/15 "2023-02-19T21:29:41Z")
I’m no expert, but the Texan one looks like a very different composition than the Italian one: I’d guess that the Texan one is mostly iron, while the Italian one looks like chondritic. Though some space-rocks are a mixture of both, so that doesn’t rule out them being a larger object that broke up. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > All being witnessed falls, they will be able to calculate the rough orbit of each of them, and they will all be studied in great detail When the Peekskill meteor fell back in 1992, it was a tremendous stroke of luck that it fell in America on a Friday evening in October, because it meant that there were a lot of people outdoors with camcorders, recording high school football games, and so we had multiple video recordings of the fall, which was then unprecedented. Nowadays, though, with everyone carrying a movie camera in their pocket, I guess that’s become routine. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/16 "2023-02-19T21:32:16Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Sometimes. > > [http://www.geotimes.org/july08/article.html?id=feature\_meteorite.html](http://www.geotimes.org/july08/article.html?id=feature_meteorite.html) Wow, the huge yellow crater is even visible in the satellite photo. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/17 "2023-02-19T21:38:12Z")
You, go to your room! ---
**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:** [February 19, 2023, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/18 "2023-02-19T22:12:02Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Have any radioactive meteorites ever been found. Indeed, are they even possible? No, and no. There can be some slight enrichment in radioactive elements on the very surface of the meteoroid thanks to cosmic rays hitting atoms and to a dusting of solar wind particles (the same way the moon accumulates the much mentioned tritium) but it would be trace amounts and that part of the meteoroid would ablate away before it hits the ground anyway. Meteorites are made from the exact same elements as the Earth itself, and the radioisotopes in them have gone through the same number of half-lives. (Which leads to one “maybe”. In theory, a meteorite could fall that was tossed out of a very young, nearby solar system that contained an abundance of newly cooked radioisotopes from a recent supernova. But having that happen is–how should I put it–somewhat unlikely.) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/19 "2023-02-19T22:16:39Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times… …is one more than two times. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/20 "2023-02-19T22:23:14Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Every time I hear, “meteorite,” I think, “Andromeda Strain.” Damn you, Michael Crichton! I think “Creepshow”. Meteorcrap! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015.md?page=2)