Watauga Democrat. [volume] (Boone, Watauga County, N.C.) 1888-current, 1929-07-11
LIB. Meteorite Falls
Near Riddles Fork

| Fork section was in town yesterday
exhibiting a meteorite which fell
Tuesday on the old Blackburn place
in his community. The formation
weighed seven pounds and fell with
such force that it buried itself in
hard packed ground. Two sons of
Joe Miller saw it fall and when
picked up was still hot. The con-
struction of the meteorite is similar
to fne-grained granite and the sur
face was black and pitted from the
intense heat to which it had been
subjected.
Mr.. Green says he was working
some distance from the place where
the discovery was made and first
heard q sound as if an airplane was
flying from the east. The noise cir
cled the Laurel Ridge and an ex-
plosion was heard as if several sticks
of dynamite had been exploded. 1t
was in Mr.. Green's judgment fully
five minutes after the detonation
that the meteorite was seen to fall
from the west into the field. Then
followed a series of rumblings as of
distant thunder.
The noise created by the meteOric
body was heard throughout this sec
ton and speculation had been rife as
to its cause, until the fragment was
found. Rumors are heard on the
streets to the effect that a portion
of the foreign matter fell near
Todd in Ashe county, which was per-
haps ten feet in diameter, but The
Democrat has been unable to verify
them.
In accordance with the request of
number of citizens attracted by
this incident, The Democrat adds a
| bit of information as to the pho
nomenon:
The luminous meteors, which ave
also known as shooting or falling
stars have their place in the upper
parts of the atmosphere and it is
/ believed that ring of them revoWes
around the sun and that each year
the earth's orbit cuts through the
ring Owing to their origin from
without they should probably belong
to astronomy. The most Interesting
of the phenomena are those which
are followed by the falling of stones
to the earth, and the circumstances
accompanying the fall are tolerablJ
uniform. A ball of fire crosses the
sky so bright as to be visible in day
time ard bright enough to light the
entire landscape if it appears at
night. 1t traverses the sky and as a
general rule finishes its course with
in a few seconds. 1t suddenly goes
out, either with or without an aprar-
ent bursting into pieces and after a
short period loud detonation is
heard throughout the region. Some
times a single stone is found, some
times several, while the numbers
have been known to run into the
thousands. TIE meteors come at all
seasons, all hours and in all regions
of the earth. The region of meteor
paths is said to range from 40 to 80
miles above the surface of the earth,
but the stone-furnishing meteor
comes much lower. The stones, or
meteorites vary in weight from a
few ounces to several hundred
pounds, one having fell upon the
Alps weighing 400 pounds. IN
1896 a meteor exploded above the
city of Madrid and although in day
time its light was dazzling. 1t er
ploded at a height of about fifteen
miles and the detonation was so
tremendous that it was heard and
tremors felt over q radius of more
than 80 miles. AS a general rule,
however, the friction encountered
when the particles of matter or me-
teorites enter the earth's atmos-
phere the friction is so great that
they become incandescent and are
generally completely disintegrated
Those found are always made up OF
substances known terestrially and
iron and nickel are often included in
their composition.
NEW ENDURANCE RECORD