1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: a show for those interested in the big and small 4 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: moments of history. I'm Gabe Louzier, and in this episode, 5 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:26,479 Speaker 1: we're talking about the day when a high schooler in 6 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: New York had her first car total by a shooting star. 7 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:44,519 Speaker 1: The day was October nine. A meteorite the size of 8 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: a bowling ball crashed into a parked Chevy Malibu in 9 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: a suburb of Peak Skill, New York. Scientists later determined 10 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 1: that the meteorite was four point four billion years old 11 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:01,080 Speaker 1: and had come from an asteroid belt in space that 12 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: lies between Jupiter and Mars. The car belonged to seventeen 13 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:10,000 Speaker 1: year old Michelle Knapp, who was watching TV in her 14 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: parents living room when the meteorite made contact. Startled by 15 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: what she described as a three car crash, she ran 16 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:23,679 Speaker 1: outside and discovered a large hole near the trunk of 17 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: her orange nineteen eighties Chevy Malibu. Upon further investigation, she 18 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: found a hole of the same size in the gravel 19 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: driveway beneath her car. In Laying in that hole was 20 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:41,840 Speaker 1: what appeared to be an ordinary rock. Michelle called the 21 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 1: police to report that her car had been vandalized, apparently 22 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 1: thinking that someone had managed to throw a rock through 23 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: the rear end of her car and clean out the 24 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: other side. Her neighbor, who had heard the noise himself, 25 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: pointed out that a human couldn't have thrown a rock 26 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: with that kind of force, and that perhaps it had 27 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: fallen from outer space instead. This made sense, as the 28 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: twenty eight pound rock was quite heavy for its size, 29 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: plus it was warm to the touch and smelled like 30 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:18,799 Speaker 1: sulfur or rotten eggs. The following day, a curator from 31 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:22,239 Speaker 1: the American Museum of Natural History in New York City 32 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: paid Michelle a visit and confirmed her neighbor's theory. The 33 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 1: rock that had slammed into Michelle's car was a piece 34 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: of meteor that had streaked across the sky over the 35 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: East Coast. The intense heat and speed broke the meteor 36 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: into more than seventy pieces, and unfortunately, one of the 37 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: largest of those chunks happened to collide with the trunk 38 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:49,960 Speaker 1: of her car. As unlucky as that was, it could 39 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,520 Speaker 1: have been much worse. The space rock was moving at 40 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 1: a speed of a hundred and sixty four miles per hour, 41 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:02,519 Speaker 1: and it just barely missed the cars. Gas tank meteorites 42 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: are relatively common. In fact, it's thought that about a 43 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: hundred pounds of this space debris strike the Earth every day, 44 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 1: but thankfully, a meteorite hitting a car is much less common. 45 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: As far as we know, it's only happened two other times, 46 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: once in Illinois during the nineteen thirties and again in St. 47 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:29,640 Speaker 1: Louis during the nineteen fifties. But the Peak Skill meteorite, 48 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: as it came to be known, wasn't notable just because 49 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: it hit a car. The truly remarkable thing about it 50 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: was that it was one of the most witnessed meteorites 51 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: in history. In the span of just forty seconds, the 52 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: meteorite had crossed four state lines, traveling the distance of 53 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: over four hundred miles. Along the way, thousands of people 54 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: saw the greenish fireball streaked past overhead, including spectators at 55 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: weekly high school football matches throughout the East Coast. Dozens 56 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 1: of parents had brought video cameras to record their kids games, 57 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: and when the meteorite appeared in the sky, as many 58 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: as sixteen different observers from various locations turned their cameras Skyword. 59 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: The sixteen videos shot from different perspectives allowed scientists to 60 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: map the exact trajectory of the meteorite, making it one 61 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: of just a few whose orbit is definitively known. But 62 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: as interesting as that is, if you're like me, what 63 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: you really want to know is whether Michelle Knapp's insurance 64 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:44,120 Speaker 1: paid for the damage. The answer is no, but don't 65 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:47,559 Speaker 1: feel too bad for Michelle. Although she had only paid 66 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:51,359 Speaker 1: about three hundred dollars for her first car, the unique 67 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:55,360 Speaker 1: damage made it worth ten thousand dollars to a meteorite 68 00:04:55,480 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 1: enthusiast in Cranford, New Jersey. But the true payday aime 69 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:03,560 Speaker 1: when Michelle sold the meteorite itself to a group of 70 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: collectors for sixty nine thousand dollars. With that, she could 71 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,719 Speaker 1: afford a whole fleet of used Chevy Malibus or at 72 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 1: least a couple of new ones. Eventually, the meteorite was 73 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: broken into smaller pieces and divvied up between other collectors 74 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:25,039 Speaker 1: and a few museums, including Chicago's Field Museum, the American 75 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:29,840 Speaker 1: National History Museum, and the Smithsonian. As for the car, 76 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: it's available to rent and has been displayed around the 77 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:38,159 Speaker 1: world in cities like Paris, Munich, and Tokyo. If you 78 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: decide to exhibit the car yourself, make sure you're extra 79 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: careful with it. According to its own website, Meteorite car 80 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: dot com, Michelle knaps Old Chevy Malibu is now ensured 81 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:55,160 Speaker 1: for a million dollars. Kind of makes you wish your 82 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:59,719 Speaker 1: own car could be struck by a meteorite. Well, all 83 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: of I'm Gabe Louizier, and hopefully you now know a 84 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:09,280 Speaker 1: little more about history today than you did yesterday. If 85 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:12,360 Speaker 1: you have a second and you're so inclined, consider leaving 86 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: us a review on Apple Podcasts. You can also follow 87 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:19,719 Speaker 1: the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t d 88 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: i HC Show, and if you have any feedback for us, 89 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: you can send it to This Day at I heart 90 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:30,799 Speaker 1: media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, 91 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:33,720 Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here 92 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:44,040 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another day in History class. For more 93 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:46,600 Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 94 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.