Key Takeaways:
- On November 30, 1954, an 8.5-pound (3.85 kg) chondrite meteorite, composed of iron and nickel, impacted Ann Hodges within her Sylacauga, Alabama, residence, causing a physical injury.
- This incident marked Hodges as the first documented individual to survive a direct impact from a falling meteorite, garnering significant public attention.
- The event precipitated personal distress for Hodges, including legal entanglement over the meteorite's ownership and contributing to her divorce due to the sustained stress.
- In 1956, the meteorite was donated to the Alabama Museum of Natural History, where it remains on display as a significant specimen.
On Nov. 30, 1954, Ann Hodges was napping on the couch in the living room of her Sylacauga, Alabama, home. At 2:46 p.m., an 8.5-pound (3.85 kilograms) rock crashed through her roof, bounced off a console radio, and hit her hip, leaving a large bruise. The rock – which was at first turned over to the Air Force and then the Smithsonian – was actually a chondrite meteorite, made up of iron and nickel. While Hodges didn’t suffer any lasting physical effects, she became an overnight celebrity – the first known person to be injured by a falling meteorite and survive.
It was an uncomfortable situation for the very private Hodges: She became entangled in a court case with her landlord over ownership of the meteorite, and in 1964, she and her husband divorced in part due to the stress the incident had put on their relationship. In 1956, ready to be done with the meteorite and the disruption it had brought to her life, Hodges donated it to the Alabama Museum of Natural History, where it is still on display.
