Meteorite Narrowly Misses Sky Diver....

[laser_jock99]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/10742854/Meteorite-narrowly-misses-Norwegian-skydiver.html

Doesn't seem to be going fast enough?

[oldpink]

I seen the video earlier, it is possible if it hit at a very shallow angle its speed was burned off and free falling at terminal velocity

[leelee970]

Looks good, although could it be ice of the aircraft he just jumped out of?

Lee

[No-i-dear]

Difficult to say from that short clip, but to me it looked like the terminal velocity of an object that had been dropped, rather than a meteorite. Could it be ice off a plane at high altitude? looked a bit dark though.

[laser_jock99]

Some joker pack a rock with the shute I reckon.

[oldpink]

I doubt at the altitude they jumped it was ice from their plane
looked like they jumped from just over 10,000ft you need to go a lot higher to get ice buildup

lots of people pack their own shutes and everything else was below them so had to come from somewhere else
(I am partial to paragliding & freefall)

[Cath]

I too would say it was packed in with the shute, and so dropped from the shute the first chance it got after opening.

But you never know.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

For a meteorite it looks pretty big and slow. A meteor of that size packs a tremendous amount of kinetic energy. I suppose it could have been slowed down if entering the atmosphere at an oblique angle, but I have my doubts.

[JamesF]

I'm struggling to believe it, too.  I can't think of an alternative explanation for it though, unless it is an intentional hoax.

James

[Cath]

Geese getting their own back?

[Steve Ward]

Longer version with subtitles.

[Zakalwe]

There's no way that fell out of the skydivers rig. Canopies are tightly packed inside a bag which is held closed with elastic bands. If you've ever pack a 'chute you'll know just how tightly packed they are.  And no experienced skydiver would risk their lives by packing a rock inside their kit. Not unless they were suicidal.

Its either a fake, a meteorite or it could be a chunk of ice. Ice can fall off commercial jet planes (it can build up on drain outlets). And a commercial jet would be flying at 30,000 feet, well above any skydiving altitude (it looked like those guys exited at about 12/13,000 feet. They were carrying a tandem jumper, so somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 AGL).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_ice_%28precipitation%29

[trazor]

Just does not feel right for a meteorite, was this first posted on April 1st..........

[JB80]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/04/05/close_call_video_of_a_skydiver_almost_hit_by_meteoroid.html

Good article here.

Personally, I think it's legit.

[Zakalwe]

Just does not feel right for a meteorite, was this first posted on April 1st..........

What should a rock falling from the sky "feel like"?

[No-i-dear]

A bit like what happened to Tim Messenger?

Yarp!

[JB80]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/04/08/skydiving_meteorite_it_was_a_rock.html

I was wrong in my assumption.

Oh well.

[JamesF]

I still struggle with that explanation, I have to say.  I'd agree that it would be nigh on impossible to have a lump of rock of the apparent size the video suggests packed in one's parachute without knowing about it.

My favoured explanation for the moment is that it was an attempt at a hoax and they lost their nerve.

James

[Zakalwe]

Wow. i never, ever would have thought that an experienced skydiver could have been so careless with kit. When you see the care that canopies are packed you will wonder how the heck was an object of that size not detected.

[trazor]

Absolutely not packed in with a parachute, nobody would be that stupid with their lives.

It's a hoax in my opinion............

[oldpink]

Wow. i never, ever would have thought that an experienced skydiver could have been so careless with kit. When you see the care that canopies are packed you will wonder how the heck was an object of that size not detected.

I have packed my own chute 23 times and as I'm still typing it means I did it right

there is no way you would pack a rock by accident and you would know it was there

Oh I'm a little more careful when packing I trace every separate line to make sure there is no twists

on both left and right, and more careful with my folding and line stacking than is shown in the video

but after my 3rd free fall using a pre packed rig I had a foul up and opened with a twisted line that I recovered

and kicked my way out of (my training taught me what to do) I landed on target

no sane skydiver would ever risk a failure by putting a rock in his rig

clear skies are great for both my major hobbies

though I have to go abroad to do paragliding as the uk weather is just as bad for that hobby as it is for Astronomy, mostly Rubbish

[JamesF]

I was wondering if it might have been carried and then dropped by someone above him.

James

[oldpink]

doubt it
it would take the rock time to get to terminal velocity
it was falling faster then them due to there resistance to the atmosphere
for a skydiver to reach terminal velocity you need to go into a dive with your arms tucked in to allow you to slipstream
yes I have did a vertical dive from 13000 ft to 7000 ft and got close to terminal
but a small body like the rock in question would reach terminal velocity as it seems to be doing as it poses no real resistance 

I can find no reason to doubt the video and put it down to a one in a million fluke, right place right time

[oldpink]

this thread has reminded me of this video from 10 years ago
we went to Turkey on Holiday to a resort known for paragliding
this was my Birthday present for my sons 14th Birthday, I booked a tandem flight for him with my instructor 
we ended up doing 8 flights in 12 days, and I even took my youngest son up at 7 years old on our last day
best holiday I ever had, I did my club license in a single week and some of the best flights I have ever had

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv4Bnpj7v4s

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

What should a rock falling from the sky "feel like"?

Hard