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Metal fragment that hit home not a meteorite
By M.K. Guetersloh
mkguetersloh@pantagraph.com
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BLOOMINGTON -- The chunk of metal that crashed though a Bloomington couple’s home last month was not a meteorite but something man-made.

But Robert “Skip” Nelson, a professor of geology at Illinois State University, said the theory may be just as unique as he pieces together how the piece of metal made its way March 5 into David and Dee Riddle’s house at Partner Place.

Nelson said the metal object appears to have been ejected from a wood grinder from Twin City Wood Recycling. “That’s almost as amazing as it being a meteorite,” Nelson said.

The metal object is about the size of a deck of cards and weighs nearly a pound. Because of its weight and the steep angle with which it hit the house, Nelson initially thought it could have been a meteorite.

John Wollrab, owner of the recycling company, said he contacted university scientists within days of learning about it.

“I had heard about it and thought it was interesting,” Wollrab said. “It was close to my business and we were outside that day running the grinder so it made me wonder if it was something that came out of the grinder.”

Wollrab let university professors studying the object come out to his business to take measurements.

If it was ejected from the grinder, Nelson said, the chunk of metal would have traveled about 300 meters, or roughly 900 feet.

“The force to push it that far would have been pretty great,” Nelson said.

The speed the object was traveling when it crashed through the Riddles’ bedroom window and punched through a computer desk would have been “a couple of hundred miles an hour,” Nelson added.

Wollrab said he would be surprised if something could be ejected from the machinery with enough force to travel that far. “I think it is still speculation,” Wollrab said.

Dee Riddle said she, too, is surprised by Nelson’s theory.

“I just don’t understand how that could have traveled that far,” she said.

Nelson doesn’t know where the metal came from. He said it did not come from the machinery but may have been something mixed in with the wood.

Take a look
An object that fell through the window of a Bloomington home is weighed at Illinois State University, Monday, March 5, 2007. Final analysis of the object has determined it was man-made and not from space. (Pantagraph/David Proeber)
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Reader comments on this story - 30 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

reader wrote on Apr 5, 2007 8:04 PM:

" Thinking back on the first time I saw this in the paper,I thought to myself this looks just like what a co-worker brought to work a few weeks ago.He had ran over it with his car and blew a tire.But ,I thought surely the pantagraph would't print a false story. "

Oops. wrote on Apr 5, 2007 5:08 PM:

" I'm predicting Wollrab is going to regret saying this: “I had heard about it and thought it was interesting,” Wollrab said. “It was close to my business and we were outside that day running the grinder so it made me wonder if it was something that came out of the grinder.” That pretty much admits that he realized what he was doing was a potential danger to others. That could make for some useful evidence in a court of law. "

To: rusty wrote on Apr 5, 2007 5:06 PM:

" Now that's funny. And I even think the whole witch-hunt against State Farm is totally misplaced, but I still recognize a good joke! :) "

Chelly wrote on Apr 5, 2007 4:10 PM:

" Is Wolltraub willing to try and recreate this to prove it one way or the other? Sounds like a cool experiment for Mythbusters. "

Bob wrote on Apr 5, 2007 3:56 PM:

" I remember several years ago the railroad company was using one of those machines that trim trees and brush near the tracks and it projected a large piece of metal through the side of my neighbor's house and into an interior room. I know Partner Place is near RR tracks, were they trimming trees that day perhaps? "

Hey Mc Algore's Internet???? wrote on Apr 5, 2007 3:28 PM:

" Who said anything about Algore inventing the Internet? Are we a little defensive? "

to:Prof. Knackwurst wrote on Apr 5, 2007 9:04 AM:

" No! More like his kidney stone! "

to:Dr. Cloud wrote on Apr 5, 2007 9:03 AM:

" Put down that cloud forming doobie! "

haha wrote on Apr 5, 2007 8:15 AM:

" SHOW ME YOUR GRILL "

rusty wrote on Apr 5, 2007 8:00 AM:

" its still flood damage. "

Chief Illiniwek wrote on Apr 5, 2007 7:55 AM:

" That my Tomahawk. "

Mc to "Sounds like a cover up" wrote on Apr 5, 2007 7:22 AM:

" Before you start spouting off incorrectly about Al Gore why don't you know the facts. Al Gore at no time said he invented the internet. You will never find a recording of those words. He did say he helped to push legislation that made the internet more accessible to everyone. Don't just believe the spin reporters and the Republicans put out there. "

Anomaly wrote on Apr 5, 2007 5:49 AM:

" Dear Pantagraph Editor: Thank you for this follow-up article. All too often news stories of the weird, beyond initial coverage, are not amended in any way. "

And Now: wrote on Apr 5, 2007 5:42 AM:

" Quick Robin.... to the batcave! "

Wacko Detector wrote on Apr 5, 2007 3:34 AM:

" Dr Cloud... go back to kindergarden and try again...the only magnetic clouds are in your brain. "

to Dr. Cloud wrote on Apr 5, 2007 12:07 AM:

" You are obviously not as learned as you make yourself sound. Although some metallic substance can develop in clouds on particular days, it never accumulates to anything discernable to the human eye, let alone to the size of a deck of cards! "

Wow wrote on Apr 4, 2007 11:37 PM:

" That could have come from a wood grinder at that angle and speed!? Makes me concerned about what those things can really do. "

at least wrote on Apr 4, 2007 10:20 PM:

" it is a good thing no one was hit by it. a little freakiish no matter what it is and were it came from. "

Prof. Knackwurst wrote on Apr 4, 2007 9:22 PM:

" Could it be a errant toenail clipping from the Funk's Grove Bigfoot? "

Sounds like a cover-up! wrote on Apr 4, 2007 8:39 PM:

" Just another weather balloon, thanks governement! I'm surprised Al Gore didn't weigh in on this. All those carbon offsets of his are solidfying and falling out of the sky! "

WTF? wrote on Apr 4, 2007 8:16 PM:

" Sounds like they may never figure out exactly what this thing is. Just think of the damage it could've done. Yikes. "

Dr. Cloud wrote on Apr 4, 2007 7:47 PM:

" I am not a rock scientist however I have studied at the National sky and cloud institute in Salt Lake I think that it was released from a cloud that was storing it in its magnetic field. Clouds build up water deposits similiar to that of any water bearing vessel like a humidifier or a tea pot. Over time these deposits mixed with the altitude harden and form a metalic like substance. I would be interested in knowing the sky conditions of this particular day. "

Sure that it is man-made, yet not sure what it is?! wrote on Apr 4, 2007 7:24 PM:

" If they don't know what it is, how are they so sure that it is man-made? I am not theorizing about UFOs, simply pointing out that stating that it is man-made before you are able to say what it is doesn't seem possible. "

yo wrote on Apr 4, 2007 7:17 PM:

" check out the airplanes that were flying over then "

s wrote on Apr 4, 2007 7:02 PM:

" There was place like them near old eureka plant. when an employee worked at a business a block from there went to go to lunch one day. his windshield was broke out of his truck and in his driner seat smashed into seat was a bit from one of there grinders. it had went up and over a few big buildings to hit his truck fell straight down to do what it did. Good thing truck was empty at the time or would have killed him. they paid for damages and everybody was happy. "

Gullible wrote on Apr 4, 2007 6:54 PM:

" So extra-terrestrials are chopping up our trees? I thought it was the Republicans. "

peanut wrote on Apr 4, 2007 6:46 PM:

" ..i think it was a peanut from Logan's...oh my gosh! "

Old Fart wrote on Apr 4, 2007 6:36 PM:

" It kinda looks like a big smile; maybe now we know what happened to Michael Jackson's lips!? "

Bizarre, wrote on Apr 4, 2007 6:35 PM:

" but at least nobody was hurt, and what was damaged is replaceable. "

UFO? wrote on Apr 4, 2007 6:13 PM:

" Are you sure it wasn't from a UFO? "
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