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Science

Meteorite Crashes Through New Zealand Roof 345

Posted by CmdrTaco from the wear-a-hat dept.
freitasm writes "The New Zealand Herald and Stuff are reporting on a 1.3kg, four billion-year-old rock that fell through the roof of a house in suburban Auckland, New Zealand. Their insurance company will pay for the hole in the roof and couch and two holes in the ceiling. The meteorite itself, a chunk of an asteroid, could have been basketball-sized when it impacted Earth's atmosphere at 15km a second. By the time it hit the house, its velocity had probably slowed to 100-200m a second."
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Meteorite Crashes Through New Zealand Roof More

Meteorite Crashes Through New Zealand Roof

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  • rawr (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 13, 2004 @09:29AM (#9412581)
    Now thats what I call a smashing entry!

    • Re:rawr (Score:5, Funny)

      by daveashcroft ( 321122 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @09:47AM (#9412686)
      Finally we know what happened to beagle.....

  • Why was this posted? (Score:5, Funny)

    by dotslashconfig ( 784719 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @09:31AM (#9412589)
    Oh, that's right... this is the biggest news in New Zealand since the Lord of the Rings crew packed up and left.

  • Um, ouch. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Talonius ( 97106 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @09:31AM (#9412591)
    I bet their insurance company cancels them after they pay for all the repairs, too. :) It was preventable, if New Zealand had invested more heavily in SWMDT (Star Wars Meterorite Defense Technology). Of course with the license fees the Reagan administration was charging...

    That would truly suck. To be sitting there watching "When Meteorites Attack, True Stories of Meteorites and Their Victims" and WHAM, there's a smoking hole in your television set, sparks flying everywhere, and the father figure of the family is screaming for his teenage son, wondering if he had been busy building nuclear reactors again.

    • Re:Um, ouch. (Score:5, Funny)

      by Ixany ( 35013 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @09:43AM (#9412668)
      Gosh no. Just think about the probability of this happening twice to that same house. Although statistically, it isn't any smaller than the probability of a meteorite hitting it the first time, one mustn't spoil the obligatory Garp [robin-williams.net] reference:

      "Honey, the chances of another plane hitting this house are astronomical. See? It's been pre-disastered. We're going to be safe here."

      Great stuff, that.

      • Re:Um, ouch. (Score:2, Insightful)

        by alex_ware ( 783764 )
        It would be better if they didn't claim, they could sell the meterite for more than the damage. But the insurance premium would go up.
      • Insurance companies don't give a shit about statistics unless they're in their favor....the whole point of the business I guess. If they have to dish out to you even once, WHAM, there go your premiums because they weren't expecting to pay out in the first place. Sheesh, what a scam. You pay more because of other people and also pay more after a claim. What a bunch of assholes.
    • Someone slacked off of the "Missile Command" budget and one little city of 5 got destroyed.
  • Or another Open Source project gone wrong?

  • why claim the insurance? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by drg55 ( 409730 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @09:31AM (#9412596)
    Meteorites are quite pricey, just put it on ebay.
    Put the house on ebay too.

    • Re:why claim the insurance? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 13, 2004 @09:37AM (#9412635)
      It must be one of the safest houses in the world - what are the odds of it being hit by two meteorites?

      • Re:why claim the insurance? (Score:5, Informative)

        by nEoN nOoDlE ( 27594 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @11:23AM (#9413182)
        As another reader pointed out, the odds of it being hit by a second meteorite, is exactly the same is it being hit by the first... which is slim, but another meteor isn't going to avoid the house next time because a meteor crashed there beforehand.
        • Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't your statement only true if looking at each meteorite independantly? For example, if there was a 1% chance of Meteorite A hitting, there is also a 1% of Meteorite B hitting. However, the odds of both hitting are significantly less: 0.01^2 = 0.01%.

          (Philosopher, not a statistican; could be wrong.)

        • Re:why claim the insurance? (Score:5, Funny)

          by quantaman ( 517394 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @12:21PM (#9413540)
          As another reader pointed out, the odds of it being hit by a second meteorite, is exactly the same is it being hit by the first... which is slim, but another meteor isn't going to avoid the house next time because a meteor crashed there beforehand.

          As another reader pointed out, the odds of you getting the first joke, is exactly the same as you being hit by a meteor... which is slim, but this joke isn't going to avoid you next time because you ruined the first joke before hand.

          (seriously I would hope that the /. crowd doesn't need the Gambler's fallacy [wikipedia.org] explained to it :)

      • Re:why claim the insurance? (Score:5, Funny)

        by sonicattack ( 554038 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @12:00PM (#9413426) Homepage
        Reminds me of the story about the statistician who calculated the odds of there being a bomb on the airplane he was travelling on, and found out that the odds were too high for him to feel safe. He then calculated the odds of there being two, independent bombs on the same plane, and noticed that the possibility was remote to the extreme, compared to the first calculation.

        So, now, he always brings a bomb with him when he's flying.
    • I recall a story (I don't know if it was actually true or not) about some old, poor women whose car was hit and fatally damaged by a meteorite. She thought she was ruined... of course, in a short manner of time someone wanted to pay a $impressive_sum_of_money for it, and, uh, she lived happily ever after or something like that.

      That couch is quite an artifact, and he could probably get not a small amount for it.

      • The homeowner collectst the insurance and then sells the meteorite on eBay for $$$, compensating for the aggravation (which insurance doesn't pay for).

        The insurance company runs an ad featuring a testimoinial the customer showing that no matter how unusual the claim, they can be counted on to do the right thing by their cusotmers.

        Probably the insurance payout is not very much relative to the cost of a decent ad.
    • Why not claim the insurance? They're paying for it, so let them pay something back. And then sell the meteor on EBay.

  • Could be a good thing? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Chris_Jefferson ( 581445 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @09:31AM (#9412598) Homepage
    Now at first, you'd think having a meteorite crashing through your roof was bad.

    On the other hand, does this mean that these people now own the meteorite? and if so, does anyone have any idea how valuable it might be? Just courious :)

  • Hrmm (Score:3, Funny)

    by acehole ( 174372 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @09:32AM (#9412600) Homepage
    Maybe they should check the 'meteorite' for peanuts...

  • I'm pretty surprised by the loss in speed. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by James A. S. Joyce ( 784805 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @09:32AM (#9412604) Homepage
    I know that the Earth's atmosphere is approximately 100 kilometres in thickness, but the idea of an object dissipating so much kinetic energy as heat is still amazing. Nonetheless, at that speed it's going at about the same speed as a bullet from a gun so I guess it's a good thing no one was there. Luckily, though, since kinetic energy is proportional to the square of velocity, it's a good thing it lost all but literally 0.2% of its speed.

    • Re:I'm pretty surprised by the loss in speed. (Score:4, Informative)

      by mog007 ( 677810 ) <<moc.liamg> <ta> <700goM>> on Sunday June 13, 2004 @10:52AM (#9413009)
      It's not that amazing. A large portion of the meteorite is boiled off from the heat, so not only is the atmosphere making a cushion, but it's also removing mass, thus decreasing the KE even more.

  • Insurance? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by meringuoid ( 568297 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @09:34AM (#9412621)
    Their insurance company will pay for the hole in the roof and couch and two holes in the ceiling.

    What insurance policy covers meteor impacts? If there's anything in the world that might happen that could be called an Act of God, surely 'smiting with flaming rocks from the heavens' qualifies?

    • It may depend on whether or not the "meteor" is a real meteor or just space junk... That being said, though, I couldn't imagine any insurance company that would be trained to tell the difference. :^)

    • Re:Insurance? (Score:5, Informative)

      by mat catastrophe ( 105256 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @09:42AM (#9412658) Homepage

      You would be surprised [insure.com] what is and is not covered under some insurance policies.

      Besides, Acts of God can also sometimes be covered under insurance - after all, what's the point of wasting all that damn money on insurance if they can just turn on you and say, "Nope, that tree falling on your house last night during the freak ice storm was an Act of God" ?

      So, for those too lazy to click the link above, meteors are covered the same as airplanes under home insurance, "objects falling from the sky." Now, the reason this is covered is precisely because it doesn't happen very often. Just as people on the coast pay extra for hurricane damage insurance and folks in the midwest pay extra for tornado insurance, if there were an area where meteors were common, there'd be extra clauses for meteor damage.

      Insurance is, largely, a racket.

      • Re:Insurance? (Score:3, Interesting)

        by MinotaurUK ( 763706 )
        IANAL, but I did do a course in contract law a few years ago. As I remember from the lectures on insurance contracts, "Act of God" doesn't mean things like meteors, storm damage, etc. at all. It's usually described as "unexplained natural phenomena", at least as far as insurance contracts go on this side of the pond.

        Unusual though a meteor coming through the roof is, I'm not sure it counts as "unexplained".

        • Re:Insurance? (Score:5, Funny)

          by cosmo7 ( 325616 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @10:06AM (#9412773) Homepage
          Insurance process:
          • Meteorite hits house
          • Owner of house contacts insurance company
          • Insurance company sends 120-page claim form
          • Owner returns claim form
          • Insurance company claims Force Majeur, All Bets Are Off
          • Owner complains to insurance trade body
          • Insurance company asks for proof that meteorite is from outer space
          • Owner engages in frank discussion with insurance company
          • Insurance company grudgingly pays half of cost of damage
          • Owner finds insurance premium has doubled

      • Re:Insurance? (Score:2, Interesting)

        by cd_serek ( 681446 )
        "...meteors are covered the same as airplanes under home insurance..."

        Well, I have to disagree with you here. Here in Australia, there is a piece of legislation called Damage by Aircraft Act 1999 [law.gov.au] [http://scaleplus.law.gov.au]. What this statute entails is that whereby any damage caused by an aircraft, the airline will automatically be liable for the damage (no questions asked), and the the damages would be sought by the insurance company on the behalf of the insured (the person being insured). Howeve

      • if there were an area where meteors were common, there'd be extra clauses for meteor damage


        According to the actuaries it'll be New Zealand as of Tuesday. =)
      • A religious phenomenon damages your home:

        Covered. Every now and then you'll hear about something unusual, such as a house where oil is pouring out of the walls for no apparent reason and the Virgin Mary appears in the oil. If that happens to you, and you make a claim for the damage done to your walls, you're covered.

        Has this ever happened??? It seems to me that it would at least make the news :)

    • This is exactly the sort of thing that one has homeowner's insurance for, isn't it? Natural disasters (i.e. acts of God") would also include trees falling down on a house, damage from windstorms (flying debris), tornadoes, etc.

    • Re:Insurance? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by (H)elix1 ( 231155 ) <slashdot.helix@nOSPaM.gmail.com> on Sunday June 13, 2004 @09:49AM (#9412698) Homepage Journal
      What insurance policy covers meteor impacts? If there's anything in the world that might happen that could be called an Act of God, surely 'smiting with flaming rocks from the heavens' qualifies?

      I'm sure the insurance company could have... but that would have created some very bad publicity. Can you imagine the homeowners saying - we have been paying them premiums for the last ten years and the rats claimed it was an "act of god". With no fatalities, light damage, and global coverage paying was the correct corporate maneuver. That kind of favorable branding is hard to get.
    • "Acts of God" are probably defined with regard to who is in office at the time.

      I know this was in New Zealand, but if it'd happened in the US, a plague would be defined as an act of terror, while stray a titanium rod fired from orbit [inthesetimes.com] would be indemnified by the government.
    • As someone who worked as a broker for over 10 years, I can most assuredly tell you that this sort of thing is covered by most homeowner's insurance policies (at least here in Canada). In fact, most so-called "Acts of God" are also covered.

      Any sudden, unavoidable weather event is generally covered, with some exceptions: flood damage in flood-prone areas, tornado damage in the plains, earthquakes on the west coast, things like that. Reason? Because when these things happen, they tend to be considered Natural
    • If the insurance company has any clue about marketing, they will realize that this is free publicity for them. This is obviously going to get on news around the world because of the freakishness/humor behind it. This is free advertising for them, or could just turn ugly if they don't pay for it.

      The repairs will be way less than the PR spin that they could put on this, rather than looking like uncaring assholes in front of a world audience.

  • That house! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Fullmetal Edward ( 720590 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @09:34AM (#9412622) Journal
    It's all lies! That house was area 51! Get your tin foil hats and ten foot thick steel bunkers because aliens have fired the first shot in the intergalatic war of 2004!
  • from the NZNews article:

    "I don't know what to make of it, it's unbelievable. I'm just glad no one was sitting on the couch because they just would have got absolutely crowned."

    Heh...can you imagine the conversation in the emergency room?

    Doctor: Whoa! What happened to you?

    Patient: I got hit by a meteorite...

    Doctor: Oh...sure...right...so how much have you had to drink to night?

    Anyway, the article mentioned that people would be trying to buy the thing from the Archers (the family in the story). I dunn

    • According to the stuff article, the meteorite could be worth $10,000. That would be one expensive conversation piece. I'd sell it if I had an offer like that, without hesitation.
    • Heh...can you imagine the conversation in the emergency room?

      Yeah, but I don't think it would go the way you had it.

      Doctor: Ewww! What happened to, uh, him?

      Constable: He got hit by a meteorite...

      Doctor: *choke* Good Lord!

  • I just keep thinking of Joe Dirt's "shit-sickle."

    "That's right, you're Joe Meteorite, and I'm Joe Dirt!"
  • The house owner said that she didn't think anyone would want to buy the rock and wanted it to stay in New Zealand / Auckland anyway. I don't think she knows how much she could get for it.

  • "What we've got here is..." (Score:5, Funny)

    by Elroy Jetson ( 590373 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @09:43AM (#9412669)
    "What we've got here is what we call a "Boeing Bomb". See the peanut? Dead giveaway."

    "Nuh-uh... thats a 'Space Peanut.'"

  • In a most-likely unrelated story, (Score:4, Funny)

    by Vengeance ( 46019 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @09:43AM (#9412670)
    Anomalous plant growth has been noted in the vicinity of the meteorite strike, with nearly complete coverage of the immediate vicinity with lush, dense foliage. The homeowners could not be reached for comment.

  • 4 Billion yo? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by wynterx ( 148276 )

    OK, the two articles contradict a bit in this area, but if the experts don't yet know where it is from (as the NZ news article says), how do they know how old it is?

    I'm far from expert in this area, but if they haven't yet done the work to figure out exactly (or even roughly) where it is from, surely they couldn't have done the work to figure out its age... Or are some assumptions being made here?

    ...OK, I'll 'fess up, just to make this look less like the flamebait that it is...

    I am a young earth-creatio

    • Yes, I'd say it's accurate that an assumption is being made here. If prevailing theory states that asteroids are of an age, then a meteorite derived from such an asteroid would be of a similar age.

      Of course, from my point of view that's a danged safe assumption. To me the young-earth ideas are pretty far-fetched, akin to a flat-earth, or an earth built as a platform atop the back of a turtle, or an elephant... Or for that matter, an earth which is situated as a sort of battle-ground between two diametri

    • Clearly (Score:3, Funny)

      by aussie_a ( 778472 )
      they asked the rock. Don't need extensive research to ask something. But I think the rock may be female, in which case it's been 4 billion years old for the past 3 billion years.
    • how do they know how old it is?
      Radiometric dating or carbon dating I suppose, by establishing radioactive decay and the determination of age ratios between different isotopes of the meteorite.

      From the article: the rock could be worth more than $10,000 - coming through the roof added significantly to its value.
      How does the meteorite coming through the roof of a suburban home add to its value?

      • Radiometric dating or carbon dating I suppose

        Not Carbon dating, that only works for organisms that were once alive. Radiometric dating would be a better method

        How does the meteorite coming through the roof of a suburban home add to its value?

        It happens very rarely

        • Re:4 Billion yo? (Score:2, Insightful)

          by stef49 ( 223595 )
          There are even more reasons for not using Carbon dating:

          (1) Carbon dating only works if you know the initial proportion of C13/C14 at the time of 'death' (or creation). The current assumption is that this proportion is quite constant on Earth. However, this proportion is likely to be very different in space (and on other planets of course) so you cannot date anything from out of space with Carbon dating even if it organic.

          (2) Carbon decays quite rapidely so it cannot ve used to date millions of years and
      • How does the meteorite coming through the roof of a suburban home add to its value?

        Instant skylight.
    • how do they know how old it is?

      They asked the bugs who launched it. Bring on the Starship Troopers!

  • Money money money (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Paul Townend ( 185536 )
    Hmmm....should the insurance company really have to pay, considering the net result of the impact is that the householders will probably be able to sell it for at least $10,000? Admittedly, I have no idea how much the repairs cost, but.... well... it just seems a bit odd to pay out for an event that will actually monetarily improve the policy-holder....
  • All we needed to do was send Bruce Willis up there with a team of roughnecks.
  • that it hat reliable information that Osama bin Laden was in the house at the time.

  • War! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Trailwalker ( 648636 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @10:34AM (#9412923)
    In a response to the attack on New Zealand, President Bush announced today that United States Army and Marine units would be stationed on Mars and other planets as a deterrent to further terrorism by unknown aliens. He will send a request for a further $900,000,000,000 to congress to fund the development of transport and supply systems for our brave patriotic troops. Haliburtion corp. has patriotically volunteered to undertake the conract for a mere 25% markup.

    Attorney General John Ashcroft declared that the aliens have obvious ties with Al Queda. Only alien mind control could have changed the joyous happy reception that should have been give to US liberators by the oppressed Arab world. He will ask Congress to amend the Patriot act to allow preventive detention of the entire population of the United States and 24 hour observation of everyone else.

    Affable non-entity and Homeland Security fill-in Tom Ridge announced newer, more vibrant colors for ever more heightened security levels. He is asking Congress to redefine illegal alien to include beings from other planets/solar systems.

  • what to do with it... (Score:3, Funny)

    by EricKoh ( 669058 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @10:47AM (#9412982)
    I'd find a blacksmith and craft an astral shield+4

  • Skeptics (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Veteran ( 203989 )
    One of the things which we fail to do is mock skeptics when they are wrong. The idea of rocks falling from the sky was rejected by all scientists at one time - despite the eye witness testimony of those who had seen it happen. The people who had seen it happen were dismissed as liars, as hoaxers, and as hallucinogenic; they were not gifted great thinkers like all skeptics are known to be.

    An example of current skeptical thought: the idea of an elephant startling at the sight of a mouse is 'scientifically' r
    • And all illness is caused by an imbalance of free radicals in your body, Tarot cards reveal your future, and websites that want to give you some free software just to help you out don't have malicious intentions.

      Congratulations, you have discovered that once in awhile, truth is stranger than fiction. Claiming that skepticism is full of shit, however, is moronic.

    • You don't seem to know very much about skepticism at all.

      Skeptics are convinced by the evidence. Anyone who is unpersuaded by uncompelling evidence is not a skeptic, period.

      Therefore your rant about skeptics, flogging, and the supposed ejaculation that you will acheive from such behavior is meaningless.

  • It's not just you. . . (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Fantastic Lad ( 198284 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @11:05AM (#9413078)
    is it just me, or have there been a lot of reports lately of 'large explosions' and 'bangs in the sky', and 'loud flashes of light in the distance', and pretty much they've all been meteorites?

    There have been an increasing number of strikes over the past couple of years. Some, like this [softcom.net] one, a half dozen instances back, are pretty darned significant. (Though, those ones suffer from a near total media black-out policy, while the smaller ones tend to get the typical, "Funny news, one in a billion, what WILL the insurance companies do, har har har! Go back to sleep, citizen" treatment). Those in power, however, are more or less aware and are preparing in their own ways. One theory suggests that the real reason behind the current world-wide military lock-down is not the 'Terrorism' bugaboo, but rather is to secure the population (and planet resources) for when things get really hairy. Look up Alternative '3' to get an idea. (Rather a cartoony distillation of the concept, but close enough to the real deal to be a relatively good primer on How Things Are.)

    There appears to be a definite time-scale thingy going on here. Watch and listen. Almost everything of any significance going on in the world today is directly related to the sky falling tomorrow, so to speak. And most of it is reactionary, religion-based stupidity. We wouldn't have troops in Iraq, and Israel wouldn't be on a genocidal free-for-all if it wasn't for the 'Good' book. Ah, religion! Crack of the Masses.

    Favorite news-bite [findarticles.com] of the week:
    Madsen, a Washington-based writer and columnist, who often writes for Counterpunch, says that people close to the pope claim that amid these concerns, the pontiff wishes he was younger and in better health to confront the possibility that Bush may represent the person prophesized in Revelations."

    Though, don't fret. The big rocks aren't due to start whacking us for a little while yet. We'll probably get all the Harry Potter books out before. And thank goodness for that! (sic)


    -FL

  • Yahooooooooo-ooooo! (Score:4, Funny)

    by HisMother ( 413313 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @11:56AM (#9413406)
    If they had checked the newspapers, they would have had time to shop on Yahoo for a boatload of throw pillows and their trailer would have been saved!

  • Ping! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward


    The rock hit her leather couch and bounced back up to the ceiling before rolling under the computer.


    This demonstrates that the Martians have Internet. They have sent a ping :)

  • Fortunately we're safe in the USA (Score:5, Funny)

    by hugesmile ( 587771 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @12:19PM (#9413521)
    As long as meteorites are measured in kg's (weight), and meters per second (speed), we should be safe here in the USA.

    Our heavy traveling stuff weighs pounds or tons, and only travels in miles per hour.

  • act of god? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by deft ( 253558 ) on Sunday June 13, 2004 @03:08PM (#9414524) Homepage
    im suprised that term hasnt been attacked yet.

    if an insurance company told me something wasnt covered because it was an act of GOD, id kindly request they prove this "GOD" existed from which this meteor was cast down...

    heck, i might even sue for slander, for them implying that GOD wanted to kill me.

  • Earth Rover (Score:3, Funny)

    by DonalGraeme ( 171589 ) <slashdot@pairofs ... m minus language> on Sunday June 13, 2004 @03:45PM (#9414742) Homepage
    Somewhere else in the universe an alien species is trying to figure out what happened to their Earth Rover.

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