|
 Stars Fell on Alabama/Hodges Meteorite - Oak Grove, AL
N 33° 11.362 W 086° 17.677
16S E 565753 N 3672502
On November 30, 1954 the first modern instance of a meteorite striking a human being occured near the marker location.
Waymark Code: WMEYG7
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 07/22/2012
Views: 11
This is a two-sided (different text on each side) historical marker recounting the day in November 1954 when a local person was struck by a meteorite which had come through her roof. The marker is located on the south side of County Road 511. The marker was placed by the Alabama Tourism Department and the Town of Oak Grove. ( visit link)
Marker Name: Stars Fell on Alabama/Hodges Meteorite
Marker Type: Rural Roadside
Addtional Information::
STARS FELL ON ALABAMA
November 30, 1954. It was a cold clear early afternoon when Dr. Moody Jacobs left his office for lunch. In the sky, he saw a trail of dark smoke and heard an explosion before white smoke shot out in several directions. “I thought a plane had exploded,” Moody said. Back by 1 p.m., he received a call to an Oak Grove home to treat Mrs. Ann Hodges who’d been struck by a “comet.” The descending fireball had actually been seen by many people across Alabama that day. The Air Force even searched for a crash. The next day, Julius K. McKinney, a farmer who lived near the Hodges, was driving a wagon when his mules shied away from a black rock in the road. After geological confirmations, McKinney sold the 3 ½ pound rock to the Smithsonian Institute where it resides today in the Hall of Meteorites. The Hodges and McKinney Aerolites are the only known meteors from that day but other ”comets” surely reached the ground the day the “Stars Fell on Alabama.”
HODGES METEORITE
The town of Oak Grove, Alabama has the distinction of being home to the first modern instance of a meteorite striking a human being. On this property, owned by the Guy Family, an 8 ½ pound “comet” crashed into a house that stood 50 yards southwest of this site facing Odens Mill Road. It was around 12:30 p.m. on November 30, 1954 when Elizabeth Ann Hodges, who was feeling a bit ill, was taking a nap on the couch in the living room. The meteorite crashed through the roof, bounced off a radio and struck her thigh. Even though she was under a couple of blankets, the grapefruit-sized rock left severe bruises on Mrs. Hodges left hip and hand. She became an instant celebrity. The Hodges meteorite has been on display at the University of Alabama’s Museum of Natural History in Tuscaloosa since March of 1956.
Date Dedicated / Placed: 2010
Marker Number: None
|
Visit Instructions:
Please post a photo of you OR your GPS at the marker location. Also if you know of any additional links not already mentioned about this bit of Alabama history please include that in your log.
|