The Fireball of August 18, 1873,
near Newark-on-Trent, England.
Etching by Henry Robinson.

Meteorite Targets:
Keep Watching the Skies!


From time-to-time meteorites have struck
man-made objects such as houses, roads, cars,
and even a mailbox (Claxton, 1984), humans
(Sylacauga, 1954) and cows (Valera, 1972)!
Here is a listing of meteorites that have hit
Humans, animals and/or man-made objects (HAMs)!
If you know of any documented hits not listed
here or if you know of any errors in this list,
please email the webmaster:






Chronological Listing of Meteorites That Have Struck
Humans, Animals and Man-Made Objects (HAMs)


Originally compiled by Walter Branch, Ph.D.


Note that this list is admittedly not complete and is constantly "under construction."

I have also taken the liberty of not listing those reports which are so incredulous as to be unbelievable, 
the reported details of which led me to believe that the report was inaccurate. Of course, there may be
reported hits in the table below which are inaccurate but they are extremely difficult to verify or disprove.
 
Meteorite names are taken from Grady, Monica M. (2000) Catalog of Meteorites,
5th edition, Cambridge University Press.

Page Frequency Count


Number of Humans Reportedly Hit:  14
Number of Animals Reportedly Hit:    6
Number of Objects Reportedly Hit:   104

It should come as no surprise that more man-made objects have been hit than either people or animals.
The most frequent object reported being hit by a meteorite is a building, and generally speaking,
buildings tend to be larger targets. 


Hits by Quarter Century

2000 -- 7 *******
1975-1999 28 *****************************
1950-1974 26 **************************
1925-1949 15 **************
1900-1924 10 **********
1875-1899 7 *******
1850-1874 6 ******
1825-1849 3 ***
1800-1824 4 ****
1775-1799 2 **
pre-1775 1 *


It is also no surprise that the Hits by Quarter Century table indicates an upward trend of
contemporaneously more reported hits.  This trend would most likely reflect increased population
density and not necessarily an increase influx of meteorites entering the Earth's atmosphere.
Meteorites have been falling on the Earth for literally billions of years and the mere 200 year timespan
reflected in the above table would be an insufficient time to detect an overall change in the flux rate.
Indeed, the rate of meteorites entering the Earth's atmosphere has no doubt
decreased since the time of heavy bombardment, approximatively 3.8 to 4 billion years ago.

(Unless something really big happens!)

Last Update: August 21, 2006

Date

Meteorite Name

Location

Object Hit

Reference

July 14, 2006 Moss (provisional name) Moss & Rygge, Norway Several stones fell  damaging a commercial roof, a sheet of corrugated metal, impacting a parking lot, a tree limb 30
June 12, 2004 Ellerslie (provisional name) Auckland, New Zealand A single stone fell through the roof of a house 29
September 27, 2003 Orissa (tentative name) Kendrapada and Mayurbhanj districts, India Several stones reportedly hit several villagers homes.  In addition, an elderly man reportedly died of a heart attack as a result of being frightened by the fall. 24
September 23, 2003 New Orleans (tentative name) New Orleans, LA, USA A single stone reportedly fell through the roof of a house, destroyed a desk and other items, passed through the floor and ended up underneath the house. 24
March 26, 2003 Park Forest South Chicago, USA Of many stones, several hit houses, a car, a road and a fire station.   22
July 21, 2002 Thuathe near Masera, Lesotho Of many stones, several reportedly hit houses 21
December 14, 1999 Dunbogan Dunbogan, New South Wales, AU Stone crashed through house roof 16, 31
June 13, 1998 Portales Valley Portales, New Mexico, USA Of many stones, at least one hit a barn roof. 6
March 22, 1998 Monahans Monahans, Texas, USA Of two stones, one hit a street. 17
December 13, 1997 Vissannapeta Andhra Pradesh, India A single stone hit a roof. 10
September 1, 1997 Worden Near Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA A single stone reportedly struck a garage and a car 23
February 15, 1997 Juancheng Shandong Province, China At least one stone fell through a roof and hit a pot on a stove. 7, 17
October 21, 1996    Clayton, Wisconsin, USA A single stone reportedly fell on a parked car's windshield.  
February 18, 1995 Neagari Nomi-gun, Ishikawa-ken, Japan A single stone fell through the trunk of a parked car. 4, 13
October 20, 1994 Coleman Coleman, Michigan, USA A single stone fell through a roof 11, 4
June 14, 1994 St. Robert St. Robert, Canada Of several stones, one reportedly hit a roof.  
December 10, 1992 Mihonoseki Honshu, Japan A single stone fell through the roof of a two-story house and reportedly penetrated both floors and was found the next day under the house. 17
October 9, 1992 Peekskill Peekskill A single stone hit a car. 4, 5, 15
August 14, 1992 Mbale Uganda Numerous stones hit buildings and a boy was reportedly struck. 5
March 26, 1991 Tahara Tahara-machi, Japan A single stone fell on a car carrier. 14
September 4, 1990 Burnwell Pike County, Kentucky, USA A single stone fell through the porch of a house. 9, 17
April 7, 1990   Glanerbrug, The Netherlands Building 1, 5
August 15, 1989   Sixiangkou, China Building 1, 5
June 12, 1989   Opotiki, New Zealand Building 1, 5
May 18, 1988 Torino Torino, Italy Building 1, 5
March 1, 1988 Trebbin Trebbin, Potsdam district, East Germany Greenhouse 1, 5
July 29, 1986 Kokubunji Kokubunji-cho, Ayauta-gun, Kagawa prefecture, Shikok, Japan Many stones struck tiled roofs and paved roads. 1, 4, 5, 17
January 6, 1985 La Criolla La Criolla, Entre Rios province Argentina Farmhouse roof and door. 1, 5
December 10, 1984 Claxton Claxton Evans Co., Georgia, USA A single stone hit a metal mailbox. 1, 4
August 22, 1984 Tomiya Tomiya-ho, Kurokawa, Miyagi-ken, Honshu, Japan A single stone fell on the veranda of a house and another stone was found on the roof of a nearby house. 1, 4, 5
June 30, 1984 Aomori Aomori city, Aomori-ken, Honshu, Japan A single stone fell through the roof of a printing shop. 1, 4, 5
November 8, 1982 Wethersfield (1982) Wethersfield, Connecticut, USA A single stone fell through the roof of a house. 1, 4, 5
November 17, 1981   Chiang Khan, Loei Thailand Several stones reportedly hit a fisherman in his boat 27
May 11, 12 or 13, 1981 Salem Marion Co.,  Oregon, USA One or possibly two stones fell on the roof of a house. 1, 4 5
October, 1978 Walnut Hill North Yarmouth, Cumberland Co., Maine, USA A single 220 gram stone penetrated the roof of a shed (actually a chicken coup). 25, 26
January 31, 1977 Louisville Jefferson Co., Kentucky, USA Three buildings and a car were struck. 1, 5, 15
August 18, 1974 Naragh Naragh, Iran A single stone hit the roof of a school building. 1,4, 5
October 27, 1973 Canon City, Fremont Co., Colorado, USA A single stone fell through the roof of a garage. 1, 4, 5, 16
March 15, 1973 San Jaun Capistrano San Jaun Capistrano, CA, USA Two fragments were recovered after falling through the roof of a carport. 1, 4, 5
October 15, 1972 Valera Trujillo, Venezuela A single stone struck and killed a cow. 16
August 2, 1971 Havero Finland A single stone fell through the roof of a farm building. 1, 4, 5
April 8, 1971 Wethersfield (1971) Hartford Co., Connecticut, USA A single stone fell through the roof of a house. 1, 4, 5
September 28, 1969 Murchison Victoria, Australia Building 1, 5
September 16, 1969 Suchy Dul near Police, Nachod district, Czechoslovakia A single stone hit the roof of a house. 1, 4, 5
August 7, 1969 Andreevka Slaviansky district, Donetsk region, Ukraine, USSR A single stone fell through the roof of a house. 1, 4, 5
April 25, 1969 Bovedy County Londonderry, Northern Ireland One of two stones fell through an asbestos roof. 1, 4, 5
February 8, 1969 Allende Allende, Mexico Out of a very large fall, at least one stone hit a patio and one hit a rooftop 8
April 12, 1968 Schenectady Glenville, New York, USA A single stone struck the roof of a house. 1, 4, 5
July 11, 1967 Denver Denver Co., Colorado, USA A single stone was found on the roof of a warehouse that may have fallen during the preceding week. 1, 4, 5
December 24, 1965 Barwell Leicestershire, England Two buildings and a car were reportedly struck. 1, 5, 15
April 26, 1962 Kiel Schleswig-Holstein, Germany A single stone fell through the roof of a house. 1, 4, 5, 17
September 9, 1961 Bells Grayson Co., Texas, USA Building 1
February 23, 1961 Ras Tanura Dakhran, Saudi Arabia A loading dock was reportedly struck 1, 5
March 5, 1960 Gao Burkina Faso, West Africa Many stones reportedly crashed through roofs of native huts (19) and hen houses (20). 19, 20
October 13, 1959 Hamlet Starke Co., Indiana, USA A single stone struck a house. 1, 4, 5
February 29, 1956 Centerville Centerville, South Dakota, USA A single stone fell through the roof of a shed. 1, 4
January 17, 1955 Kirkland Kirkland, Washington, USA Two irons reportedly struck an amateur astronomers observatory. 4, 5, 17
November 30, 1954 Sylacauga Talladega Co., Alabama, USA A single stone fell through the roof of a house and struck a women. 1, 4, 5
December 10, 1950 St. Louis St. Louis Co., Missouri, USA A single stone hit a car. 1, 4, 5, 15
September 20, 1950 Murray Calloway Co., Kentucky, USA Buildings (5) 1, 5
May 23, 1950 Madhipura Bhagalpur district, Bihar, India A single stone fell through the roof of a shed. 1, 4, 5
November 20, 1949 Kochi Kochi-Ken, Shikoku, Japan Although it's origin is doubtful, a single stone reportedly fell through the window of a house. 28
September 21, 1949 Beddgelert Gwynedd, Wales A single stone fell through the roof of a hotel. 1, 4, 5
June 11, 1949 Kunashak Chelyabinskaya oblast', Russia A roof damaged. 28
November 30, 1946   Colford, Gloucestershire, UK A boy was reportedly knocked off a bicycle. 5
May 16, 1946



  Santa Ana, Nuevo Leon, Mexico Many houses were reportedly destroyed and 28 people injured. 5
Note that meteorite collector Doug Dawn indicates this most likely may have been reported in error, due to a mistranslation of the word "meteorological" - Personal Communication, January 30, 2004.  I am including it here, to encourage more research,  but NOT in frequency count tables.
September 29, 1938 Benld Macoupin Co., Illinois, USA A single stone fell through the roof a garage and struck a car. 1, 4, 5, 15
Summer, 1938 Bloomington McClean Co., Illinois, USA Two fragments were thought to have fallen onto the back porch of a house. 1, 4
June 24, 1938   Chicora, Pennsylvania, USA A cow was struck and injured. 5
June 16, 1938   Pantar, Phillipines Buildings (several) 1, 5
March 31, 1938 Kasamatsu Hashima, Gifu, Honshu, Japan Stones reportedly fell through the roof of a house (1) and possibly a ship (5) 1, 4, 5, 17
April 2, 1936 Yurtuk Lubimov, Ukraine, USSR Of several stones, one fell through the roof of a house. 1, 4, 5
March 14, 1936   Red Bank, New Jersey, USA A stone reportedly fell through the roof of a shed. 5
August 10, 1932 Archie Cass County, Missouri, USA Building 1
April 28, 1927 Aba Aba, Japan A single stone reportedly struck a girl 5
February 16, 1927 Mhow Mhow, India Reportedly, a meteorite struck and wounded a man. 1, 4
July 6, 1924 Johnstown Weld Co., Colorado, USA Stones struck the roofs of houses. 12
December 21, 1921 Beirut Beirut, Syria A single stone fell through the roof of a hut. 1, 4, 5
June 30, 1918 Richardton Stark County, North Dakota, USA Building 1, 5
December 3, 1917 Strathmore Perthshire, Scotland Of four recovered stones, a single stone fell through the roof of a house. 1, 5
January 18, 1916 Baxter Stone County, Missouri, USA A single stone fell through the roof of a house 1, 4
July 19, 1912 Holbrook Navajo County, Arizona, USA Building 1
June 28, 1911


Nakhla Abu Hommos, Alexandria Egypt One several stones, one reportedly killed a dog. 15, 17
Note that meteorite collector Kevin Kichinka reports that there is some dispute as to whether or not a dog was actually killed.  Mainly for historical reasons and to promote further research, I am including this here as well as the frequency count tables.
June 16, 1911 Kilbourn Columbia County, Wisconsin, USA A single stone fell through the roof of a barn. 1, 4, 17
September 5, 1907   Hsin-p ai Wei, Weng-li, China A whole family was reportedly crushed by a meteorite 5
November 4, 1906 Diep River Cape Province South Africa A single stone fell through the roof of a house. 1, 4
March 11, 1897   New Martinsville, West Virginia A man was reportedly struck, a horse killed, and walls pierced. 5
September 22, 1893 Zabrodje Minsk Region, Belorussiya, USSR A single stone fell through the roof of a house. 1, 4, 5
November 19, 1881 Grossliebenthal Odessa, Kherson, Ukraine, USSR Building 1, 5
June 4, 1880 (est)   Whitestone Township, Australia A man was reportedly struck and killed by a single iron meteorite. 18
November 12, 1879     Huang-hsiang, China Houses damaged by numerous stones 5
January 31, 1879   Dun-le-Poelier, France A farmer was reportedly killed by a meteorite. 5
February 16, 1876 Judesegeri Judesegeri, India Village Water Tank 1, 4, 5
June 30, 1874   Chun-kuei Shan, Ming-tug Li, China A single stone reportedly fell through a cottage and killed a child 5
December 12, 1872   Banbury, England A meteorite reportedly hit a wall 5
January 23, 1870 Nedagolla Nedagolla, India A man was reportedly struck by a meteorite 5
August 8, 1868 Pillistfer Pillistfer, Estonia Building 1
May 1, 1860 New Concord New Concord, Ohio, USA Reportedly killed a horse. 1, 3, 4
December 9, 1858 Ausson Ausson, France Building 1
July 14, 1847 Braunau Braunau, Czechoslovakia Building 1
November 11, 1836 Macau Macau, Brazil Reportedly killed several cattle 1
February 16, 1827 Mhow Mhow, India Reportedly wounded a man 1, 4
November 10, 1823   Wasada, Japan A meteorite struck a house 5
June 19, 1809   Off the coast of Rhode Island, USA Out of many that fell, a single stone reportedly hit the deck of a ship at sea, but was subsequently lost. 1
December 14, 1807 Weston Weston, CT, USA Building 2
December 13, 1803 Massing Massing, Czechoslovakia Building 1
December 19, 1798 Benares (a) Benares, India Building 1
July 24, 1790 Barbotan Barbotan, France Building 1
May 19, 861   Kyushu, Japan A single stone reportedly penetrated the roof of s shrine 27


References

1 Spratt, C. & Stephens, S.,  Against all Odds: Meteorites that have Struck Home, Mercury: the Journal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. XXI, Number 2 (March/April, 1992), p. 50-56.
2 Nininger, H. H., 1972.  Find a Falling Star.  Erickson
3 E.B. Andrews et al., A. J. Sci., 1860, 30, p.103, 296.
4 Astronomical Research Networks History of Meteorites, 1997, Kenneth Regelman
5 Lewis, John A., Rain of Fire and Ice.  1996. Addison Wesley.
6 Today, March 26, 1998
7 Meteoritical Bulletin # 83, July 1998
8 Clark, Roy S. The Allende Mexico, Meteorite Shower. Smithsonian Contributions to the Earth Sciences 1970 #5 pp 15
9 The Meteoritical Bulletin No 81, July 1998
10 The Meteoritical Bulletin,  No 83, July
11 The Meteoritical  Bulletin, No 80, July 1996
12 H. H. Nininger, Out of the Sky, page 18.
13 Akira Ishiwatari, Keiichi Sasatani, Kazue Tazaki, Koh Sakamoto, Takashi Nakanishi, Kazuhisa Komura, Tatsuki Tsujimori, Yasuji Oura, Yutaka Miyamoto, Hisatada Akahane, Makoto Watanabe and Katsushi Nunomura, Earth Science (Chikyu Kagaku), vol. 49, no. 3, 179-182 (1995)
14 The Meteoritical Bulletin, No 75, 1993
15 Meteorite, Vol 7, No. 1, 2001
16 The Meteoritical Bulletin, No 85, September 2001
17 Monica M. Grady, 2000, Catalog of Meteorites, 5th edition, Cambridge University Press.
18 English Mechanic and World of Science, No 793, June 4, 1880.
19 Personal Communication, Robert Haag, June 3, 2002
20 Meteorites and Planetary Science, 33, A181-A182, 1998.
21 Mike Farmer and Eric Olson (recoverers), personal communication, March 5, 2003.
22 Various Chicago area print and online news reports.
23 The Meteoritical Bulletin, No 85, 2001
24 Mike Farmer, Personal Communication, September 30, 2003
25 Russ Kempton, Personal Communication, April 19, 2004.
26 Meteoritics, May, 1993, p. 696.
27 Martin Altman, Personal Communication, April 28, 2004
28 Fersman Museum, website photo
29 Various New Zealand area print and online news reports.
30 Various Norwegian area print and online news reports.
31 Records of the Australian Museum (2002) Vol. 54: 249–254. ISSN 0067-1975

Return to the Main Page