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Gerrit Blank, a teenager from Essen, western Germany, claimed to have been struck by a meteorite as he was walking to school in June, 2009. This claim has since been widely discredited by the scientific community as a hoax. The schoolboy claimed that he saw a bright streak of light heading towards him. The pea-sized meteor grazed the top surface of his left hand, leaving a three-inch burn scar before striking the asphalt road surface, and burning a crater in the tarmac. These observations are not possible and are not consistent with a true meteorite impact of this small size (cf. terminal velocity). The worldwide reporting in the media is certainly the result of the general public's misguided perception of a typical meteorite strike, largely due to the many Hollywood movies over-dramatisation of such meteorite falls. Astronomer Ansgar Korte, of Essen’s Walter Hohmann observatory, was misquoted to say: "It's a real meteorite. It's very valuable to scientists." In fact, Mr. Korte had not even seen the meteorite at this stage. According to astronomer Phil Plait "my friend the Dutch science writer Govert Schilling talked to Korte who is claiming he never saw the meteorite and was misquoted".〔(A boy claims he was hit by a meteorite )〕 Plait goes on to identify a number of major inaccuracies and ambiguities in the story as reported. The German scientists quoted in the original press articles were also asked for an explanation (and clarification), they replied as follows: The only human confirmed to be struck and injured by a genuine meteorite was 31-year-old Ann Hodges, of Sylacauga, Alabama. She was struck while asleep in bed on November 30, 1954, after the meteorite punched through the roof of her home, smashed a wooden cabinet, and then bounced off the floor and struck her in the hand and hip. The meteorite, which weighed about eight and a half pounds, caused extensive bruising. ==See also== * Extraterrestrial materials * Micrometeoroid * Near-Earth object * Notable meteors 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gerrit Blank」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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