# Why did one man's house get hit by meteorites six times? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 17, 2015, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407 "2015-07-17T11:10:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/1 "2015-07-17T11:10:06Z")
I came across this story from 2010 – a Bosnian man, Radivoke Lajic, says that his house has been hit [six times by meteorites](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/bosnia/7899549/Man-claims-aliens-targeted-his-home-with-meteorites.html). According to the story, that the rocks are meteorites has been confirmed. Assuming that this guy actually has several meteorites, I see a few possibilities: a) he is lying or deluded about his house being struck by meteorites, and acquired the meteorites by some other way b) some physical property of his house or the layout of the land attracts meteorites c) we happen to live in one of the universes within the infinite multiverse that has this incredibly rare statistical anomaly of one house getting struck six times by meteorites d) aliens are targeting his house and lobbing meteorites at him (Lajic’s own theory) Are there any possibilities, like a magnetic anomaly, for option b? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/2 "2015-07-17T11:40:32Z")
I don’t know of any other towns that have been targeted multiple times by large meteorites (defined as “at least the size of a marble”), let alone individual houses. I’m calling “error” or “hoax”. Here are some possibilities: 1.) He’s making it up, and bolstering his story with meteorites obtained elsewhere. 2.) His house was hit _once_ by a meteorite, and he misinterprets other sounds and vibrations as more meteorite hits, then goes looking for the meteorite and finds other pieces of that first one. Once he finds them, of course, he stops, so he doesn’t find the other pieces, until his next misinterpreted meteorite strike, when he goes out prospecting again. I like this interpretation – it doesn’t require him to be a liar, and meteorites have been known to fracture in the air or on impact. And it doesn’t require a statistical anomaly. (If this is the case, all his meteorites will be identical – no mixture of stony meteorites and iron-nickel ones.) I don’t buy the other ideas, including being targeted by aliens. Aliens are known to have rotten aim. Side issue – if you consider micrometeorites, it’s not only possible, but virtually certain that his home – and every other home – has been hit multiple times by meteorites. Micrometeorites are common, and you can troll for them with a magnet in the runoff from your roof. [http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/blog/science-experiments/a-meteorite-hit-my-house/](http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/blog/science-experiments/a-meteorite-hit-my-house/) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Angry\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/3 "2015-07-17T11:41:47Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Are there any possibilities, like a magnetic anomaly, for option b? I’d have thought that a magnetic anomaly strong enough to affect the trajectory of a meteor would be noticeable in other ways. Compasses going crazy, cutlery jumping out of drawers, that sort of thing. 🙂 I’d say it’s a toss up between a and c. The thing with statistics and probability is that you have to spread this unlikely event across the whole Earth. The chances of a particular house being hit by a meteorite? Mind-bogglingly low. The chances of some random house, somewhere on the planet being hit? Probably fairly high actually, that’s something that happens often enough that it generally only merits a local news report (usually just before the funny/human interest bit about talking dogs or whatever). The chances of one of those houses being hit again? Getting lower, but not amazingly low (let’s say one in 10 million). That’s probably happened somewhere in the world a few times before. Six times? Well, the chances are staggeringly low, but still not impossible. IOW, just another one of those odd coincidences. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/4 "2015-07-17T12:02:47Z")
Jesus? ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/5 "2015-07-17T12:14:18Z")
I go for the “sometimes, weird and statistically improbable shit happens” theory. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/6 "2015-07-17T14:57:34Z")
**Why did one man’s house get hit by meteorites six times?** He’s just lucky, I guess. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/7 "2015-07-17T15:02:03Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I don’t buy the other ideas, including being targeted by aliens. Aliens are known to have rotten aim. Hey – don’t go judging \*all \*aliens on the basis of a few Imperial Stromtroopers. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/8 "2015-07-17T15:06:47Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I don’t buy the other ideas, including being targeted by aliens. Aliens are known to have rotten aim. Just wait until their parents find out they are throwing rocks at people. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/9 "2015-07-17T15:29:15Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > [snip] > I don’t buy the other ideas, including being targeted by aliens. Aliens are known to have rotten aim.[/snip] I know right? Buenos Aires is in the southern hemisphere. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/10 "2015-07-17T15:42:44Z")
I’d have to go with “someone who doesn’t like him has a compressed air cannon and a supply of either meteorites or slag. Or an airplane, a supply of meteorites, and really good aim.” ---
**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:** [July 17, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/11 "2015-07-17T15:58:23Z")
I think it is alien kids trying to skip rocks off the troposphere. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/12 "2015-07-17T20:29:03Z")
I don’t have an answer regarding the frequency of impacts, but if it is true then we’d like to inspect the materials used to contruct his house and how they have survived impact and attendant acoustic shock of six seperate meteorite attacks. This would be useful in bulding a protective shield for the ISS and other large satellites against orbital debris. They also might check if he’s been protecing his house against the thermal blast by painting it with that mytomagical Starlite thermal protection material that pops up every few years in the popsci press. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/13 "2015-07-17T20:31:42Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > I know right? Buenos Aires is in the southern hemisphere. Maybe their aiming software is buggy. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/14 "2015-07-17T20:32:57Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > 2.) His house was hit _once_ by a meteorite, and he misinterprets other sounds and vibrations as more meteorite hits, then goes looking for the meteorite and finds other pieces of that first one. Once he finds them, of course, he stops, so he doesn’t find the other pieces, until his next misinterpreted meteorite strike, when he goes out prospecting again. I like this interpretation – it doesn’t require him to be a liar, and meteorites have been known to fracture in the air or on impact. And it doesn’t require a statistical anomaly. (If this is the case, all his meteorites will be identical – no mixture of stony meteorites and iron-nickel ones.) > I don’t buy the other ideas, including being targeted by aliens. Aliens are known to have rotten aim. I like this explanation. I also like **Finagle** ’s theory that he is being targeted by earthlings. The vast majority of unexplainable happenings can probably eventually be traced to someone pulling a joke. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/15 "2015-07-17T20:48:25Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > I don’t have an answer regarding the frequency of impacts, but if it is true then we’d like to inspect the materials used to contruct his house and how they have survived impact and attendant acoustic shock of six seperate meteorite attacks. This would be useful in bulding a protective shield for the ISS and other large satellites against orbital debris. They also might check if he’s been protecing his house against the thermal blast by painting it with that mytomagical Starlite thermal protection material that pops up every few years in the popsci press. > > Stranger After checking [Wikipedia,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlite) I seek chances to work “speaking scientific cobblers” into conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/16 "2015-07-17T20:50:10Z")
I was putting Christmas lights up on my house and found a hole on the edge of my roof. Whatever made it put a dent on the wood below, then must have rolled down the eve and is sitting at the bottom. I want to stick a GoPro or something in there to see if I have a space rock. That would be cool! But five more times? Not so much. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/17 "2015-07-17T21:37:04Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > that mytomagical Starlite thermal protection material that pops up every few years in the popsci press. > > Stranger I put that stuff on my car, and the paint sloughed off. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/18 "2015-07-17T21:42:25Z")
Weird things happen. [Roy Sullivan was hit by lightning seven times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Sullivan). ---
**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:** [July 17, 2015, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/19 "2015-07-17T22:25:07Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Weird things happen. [Roy Sullivan was hit by lightning seven times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Sullivan). “He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 71 over an unrequited love.” Christ. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407/20 "2015-07-17T22:58:15Z")
I don’t believe it. Let’s say that the chance of your house having _ever_ hit by a meteor is one in a million. I suspect that is much too high, but let’s go with it. Then the chance of its having happened twice is one in trillion. Let us say there a billion houses in the world, including mud huts in Africa. So there is one chance in a thousand that there exists, somewhere in the world, a house that has been hit twice. Almost surely not but just this side of possible. Now 6 times? One chance in 10^36. I will accept virtually any other possibility over this. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-one-mans-house-get-hit-by-meteorites-six-times/725407.md?page=2)