A loud boom from the bathroom

I was in the middle of a meeting at work this morning when a co-worker (a meteorite expert no less) forwarded me an article about the strange goings-on in a New Jersey bathroom. I knew that I would have to write a post about it before going to bed:

A hole in the roof, a bathroom full of debris and a strange, silvery rock near the toilet — the Nageswaran family soon realized they needed an astronomer, not a contractor, to fully explain what damaged their house.

Scientists determined it was a meteorite that crashed through the roof of their central New Jersey home more than a week ago.

While extraterrestrial rocks fall to the Earth with some regularity, it is rare for them to strike homes.

“The fact that something from outer space hit our house … it’s overwhelming,” said Shankari Nageswaran in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press. [Link]

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p>Apparently the grandma heard sounds in the bathroom that didn’t sound like those she typically associated with her son:

On the night of Jan. 2, Nageswaran walked into his bathroom and spotted a hole in the ceiling and noticed small chunks of drywall and insulation littering the room.

His mother, who has been staying with the family, recalled that she had heard a loud boom and thought it was a post-New Year’s fireworks explosion. But that didn’t explain the mess in the bathroom. [Link]

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Don’t those look more like bloody footprints?

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I’ll bet this ends up on Ebay within 24 hours.

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p>Turns out it is an iron meteorite, a type of find that scientists love for what it tells us about the origins of our solar system. Think of these objects as the left-over construction material after all the houses (the planets) were built.

About 50 meteorites reach the Earth’s surface each year, but with humans occupying only a small part of the planet, there is only one report every year or two of meteorites hitting buildings, said Tim McCoy, curator of the Smithsonian Institution’s meteorite collection.

Every meteorite serves as a “poor man’s space probe,” yielding information on how the solar system formed, McCoy said.

“There’s been fewer than 5,000 meteorites found over the surface of the Earth in the recorded history of mankind,” McCoy said. “Every time we get a new one, it’s an important event…” [Link]

23 thoughts on “A loud boom from the bathroom

  1. “There’s been fewer than 5,000 meteorites found over the surface of the Earth in the recorded history of mankind,” McCoy said. “Every time we get a new one, it’s an important event…”

    Mr. Nageswaran: “Um…we? Uh…yea…heh…awkward. Sorry bud, but this is going on the mantle next to the sandalwood Ganesh and our son’s spelling bee trophy. But hey: if you help it clean up, those chunks of drywall are all yours.”

  2. I guess this is what that astrologer meant when he said Mars is in the seventh house this January. Where’s Uranus?

  3. That is quite weird if you think about it – a meteor from the vast outer space hits specifically your home, something like a man in Iraq cursing himself that a random American bomb lands specifically on his home. I also wonder what Hindu beliefs have to say about meteorites. I know there’s stuff about eclipses, but I couldn’t find anything related to meteorites.

  4. Thank heavens they didnt tout this as a sign of laxmi to parvesh their ghar

    The Nageswarans have not decided what to do with their meteorite, despite plenty of advice from family and friends. But they said they want to make sure that the rock, which they have locked up at a bank, serves an educational purpose.

    why…desis have to be proper all the time? just say it like it is and SELL that baby!

  5. It’s so shiny! Did they polish it? Wouldn’t it look all black and charred?

    I’m glad no one got hurt. Speaking of things from outer space falling to Earth, check out this amazing video taken last week. Supposedly a Russian space rocket fell over Colorado, breaking into tiny flaming bits that just happened to get caught on camera.

  6. so, chances of meteorite striking desi’s home: about 20% chances of meteorite striking desi’s home in the US: about 2% chances of meteorite striking desi’s home in NJ: about 40%??

  7. It depends, it will be covered if it an ‘Act of God’, so is it? 🙂

    Cinamon, I thought insurace did NOT cover act’s of god (well unless you had flood and earthquake insurance).

  8. yesterday. a loud boom in the bathroom blew my ass away. i lit a match to clear the ripe away. o! i had beans yes-ter-dayyyy..

    yesterday.

  9. Btw, the meteor damage will be covered under “objects falling from the sky”. This section covers stuff like airplanes and meteors.

  10. It depends, it will be covered if it an ‘Act of God’, so is it? 🙂

    Not an act of physics? 😉

    Can you imagine? I’m surprised no one fainted in shock.

  11. This is how I got Spacecat-hence the name. Fuzzy black astronaut feel outta the sky. 🙂

  12. This could be turned into a funny sketch on Goodness Gracious Me
    the grandma heard sounds in the bathroom that didnÂ’t sound like those she typically associated with her son

    “Beita, vot you are doing in dere?!”

  13. “the grandma heard sounds in the bathroom that didnÂ’t sound like those she typically associated with her son…”

    Only you, Abhi, only you! Thanks for a really good laugh!

  14. Could have been a leopard

    A Leopard, while chasing a prey, today entered the house of one Dharmnishtha Sukhadia (52), city MLA Jitendra Sukhadia’s sister-in-law in Amitnagar Society of Karelibaug area here causing panic. However, the four-year-old leopard did not harm anyone and took refuge in the bathroom situated in the back of the house.

    While police, which reached the scene and bolted the door using a long rod, the animal, which injured itself while trying to escape through a window, cooled itself by dipping its legs in two buckets filled with water. Forest officials said that the leopard must have strayed from a nearby forest.

    Then there are those stories (apocryphal?) about boa constrictors or baby alligators coming up into people’s toilets in Florida…