# 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:** 2
**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, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/21 "2023-02-19T22:25:00Z")
👍 I couldn’t figure out how to work that in. Thanks. Jordy! ---
**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, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/22 "2023-02-19T22:25:22Z")
> **[3 nights in a row, 3 fireballs, 3 meteorites… | IMO](https://www.imo.net/3-fireballs-3-meteorites-in-a-row/)** > > For astronomers who did not know how to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Tcheliabinsk event, sky deserves the best celebration we could even imagine! From February 13th, to 15th, 3 meteorite-dropper fireballs occured over France, Italy and Texas...... ---
**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, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/23 "2023-02-19T22:28:59Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > 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. But, the Earth does contain radioisotopes. Given that Earth and meteors are made of the same elements, shouldn’t we then expect that meteors would contain some, too? ---
**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, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/24 "2023-02-19T22:34:44Z")
Yes, but I assumed that by “radioactive” he meant _more_ radioactive than a banana. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/25 "2023-02-20T01:22:11Z")
I’m not worried. Apparently when these aliens get mad, all they can do is throw rocks. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/26 "2023-02-20T01:30:07Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times… Throwing meteors at Earth is no big deal. When the aliens throw the Earth into the Sun, I’ll know they’re mad at us. ---
**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 20, 2023, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/27 "2023-02-20T01:30:09Z")
Don’t let Manny and the Prof hear you say that! Mike would take it as a challenge and I don’t think even Wyoh could save you. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/28 "2023-02-20T01:35:56Z")
As TMIAHM said, dropping rocks from space is one of the best ways to release a huge amount of energy in a small space. Way better than nuclear weapons. To be effective they need to use bigger rocks, but these first three are probably just preliminary target practice. ---
**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 20, 2023, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/29 "2023-02-20T01:36:43Z")
Ranging shots. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/30 "2023-02-20T02:10:21Z")
So, it’s the Bugs? Time to send the Mobile Force? Service guarantees Citizenship! ---
**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 20, 2023, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/31 "2023-02-20T02:27:27Z")
Can’t rule out Gamilon. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/32 "2023-02-20T02:39:06Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It was probably the red Tesla Roadster that really sent them over the Moon in a rage. And now they’re enacting their revenge. Low build quality _really_ pisses them off. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/33 "2023-02-20T14:42:54Z")
Welp, it’s clearly time to break out the 1920s-style death rays. And the Jewish lasers. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/34 "2023-02-20T15:45:00Z")
Um, most of this planet’s surface is water. There could be multiple strikes on water, right? We woudn’t necessarily notice them? Would we? ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/35 "2023-02-20T15:58:09Z")
Which is why astronomers get so excited when they find a whole meteorite sample - because most of them that hit the earth are lost. ---
**Author:** ![Mikkel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikkel/32/13151_2.png) [@Mikkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikkel)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/36 "2023-02-20T16:18:12Z")
I think the fall would be noticed, at least on radar, but the meteorite would be really difficult to find. ---
**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 20, 2023, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/37 "2023-02-20T16:44:05Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Which is why astronomers get so excited when they find a whole meteorite sample - because most of them that hit the earth are lost Right. Most of the Earth’s surface is water, or desert, or forest, or mountain, or ice, or some other condition that makes it uninhabited, sparsely inhabited, or difficult to search. The Italy find is described as the several biggest fragments totalling around 70 grams. That’s around the size of a charcoal briquette. Imagine searching–on foot–for individual charcoal briquettes in a target area measured in square miles. (Most of the word’s recovered meteorites come from hot deserts and Antarctica, which preserve them for thousands of years but fit squarely in the sparsely inhabited and very deadly to search if you aren’t well prepared categories.) (ETA astronomers aren’t particularly likely to know a lot more about meteorites than the general public. The relevant science is [meteoritics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoritics), done by meteoriticists.) ---
**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 20, 2023, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/38 "2023-02-20T16:54:46Z")
Although, you can often see a fall from a considerable distance from where it eventually hits. For instance, the Peekskill Meteor I mentioned earlier struck near New York City, but I was able to see it easily from Ohio, and some saw it from even further away. So even if the meteorite is never recovered, the odds aren’t too bad of someone seeing it coming down. ---
**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 20, 2023, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/39 "2023-02-20T16:56:00Z")
> [@Mikkel](#): > > I think the fall would be noticed, at least on radar Doppler radar has actually recently became a very useful tool in narrowing down fall locations. > **[Automated Detection of Meteorite Strewnfields in Doppler Weather Radar - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33204042/)** > > For several years meteorite recovery in the United States has been greatly enhanced by using Doppler weather radar images to determine possible fall zones for meteorites produced by witnessed fireballs. While most fireball events leave no record on... ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015/40 "2023-02-21T05:23:23Z")
The meteor registered on a Geostationary Lightning Mapper > **[American Meteor Society posts photo of meteorite found in Texas](https://www.kiiitv.com/article/news/local/texas/rio-grande-valley-meteor/503-3491e495-73f5-45dd-9389-9c6e0523f828)** > > The meteorite, the American Meteor Society says, is from the Feb. 15 event that created a sonic boom and shook houses in the Rio Grande Valley. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-the-aliens-are-finally-attacking/980015.md?page=3)