Artist's rendering of a meteor.
Image courtesy Corel Corporation
Fireball explodes in sky near Chicago
News story originally written on April 4, 2003
A large meteor exploded in the sky near Chicago shortly after midnight on
the morning of March 28, 2003. People in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and
Ohio witnessed the disintegration of the meteor in Earth's atmosphere. Pieces
of the meteor as large as 7.5 pounds fell across an area about 80 miles long
by 20 miles wide near the south side of Chicago. Some of the chunks of rock
hit houses in the area, including a five-pound meteorite which one family found
in their living room. It had knocked a hole right through their roof and ceiling!
The stony meteor was probably about the size of a small car before it exploded.
Although it is not uncommon for small meteorites to strike the Earth, it is
very unusual for meteorites to land in populated areas. Nobody was injured
by the falling debris.
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