Did you know that Earth is just a big, spinning rock floating through space? And did you also know that the universe is like a giant game of dodgeball, where at anytime you could get pelted with another giant rock? The difference of course is this isn’t a game and if you get hit with a space rock you’re probably going to die, along with possibly all life on this planet. Personal extinction almost happened to one skydiver, who is possibly the first ever to capture a falling meteor from his helmet cam.
Anders Helstrup and his friends were diving one day above Hedmark in Norway when he suddenly felt “something” happen. He didn’t know what it was, but when he went back to review his camera he discovered something that shocked him. A meteor had blasted by him while he was going down.
Helstrup reported his story to the Natural History Museum in Oslo and a community of meteorite experts are convinced that he spotted what is known as a “dark flight” meteor for the first time ever.
Experts analyzed the footage and concluded that the stone was definitely a meteor due to the shape. They believe it came from a larger meteor which exploded 12 miles above Earth. A “dark flight” meteor is one that stops burning and falls to the ground at terminal velocity. Researchers believe the rock whizzed past Helstrup traveling around 186 mph.
Petapixel.com reported that you would have a better chance of winning the lottery three times than be able to record a meteor fall while skydiving.
[about_austin]
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