French woman hit by meteorite while having coffee on terrace
image for illustrative purpose
New Delhi: In an extremely rare astronomical event, a French woman was hit by a meteorite while having coffee on terrace with her friend, the media reported.
According to French newspaper Les Dernieres Nouvelles d'Alsace (DNA), the woman was hit in the ribs by a mysterious pebble.
"I heard a big 'Poom' coming from the roof next to us. In the second that followed, I felt a shock on the ribs. I thought it was an animal, a bat!" the woman was quoted as saying.
"We thought it was a piece of cement, the one we apply to the ridge tiles. But it didn't have the colour."
To understand what stuck her she got the rock checked by a local roofer who suggested it to be a meteorite. Following this, she got the rock examined by geologist Dr Thierry Rebmann, who confirmed its extra-terrestrial origins.
The rock appeared to contain a mixture of iron and silicon, and could be a meteorite, Rebmann was quoted as saying to the local paper. All the pieces of the meteorite that have been recovered weighed more than 100 gms, the report said.
The geologist added that the phenomenon of people being struck by such objects is extremely rare. Meteorites are "space rocks" that survive their journey through the Earth's atmosphere and hit the ground.
