(PCM) A Norway man had quite the adventure during a recent skydiving excursion when he was nearly hit by a falling meteorite after its’ flame had gone out. The entire ordeal was captured on the man’s helmet camera and it marks the first time that footage of a meteorite travelling through the air after its’ flame has gone out has ever been captured.
The man and the rest of the crew that was accompanying him during the skydiving excursion were at first not really sure what the stone like object was, thinking perhaps it had gotten packed into the parachute set-up by accident, however upon closer examination of the footage they were able to determine the object was too large for that to be a feasible explanation.
A geologist took a look at the footage and confirmed that a meteoroid had just exploded about 20 kilometers above the man and his fellow skydivers.
For those that don’t know a meteorite will slow down when it enters the earth’s atmosphere as its’ molecules ionize, this creates the burning trail of flames which can be visible when one sees a falling meteorite. After the flames are extinguished the meteorite enters something called a dark flight, where it then pummels straight to earth.
Since the incident which occurred in the summer of 2012, the Norwegian man has been on a search to locate the fallen meteorite with the assistance of the Natural History Museum in Norway. Thus, far he has had no luck on finding the exact meteorite that almost took him out during the skydive, but he is not ready to give up the search anytime soon.
They are now asking the help of the international meteorite community to assist with the search, which includes areas of dense forest, marshes and scub to locate the fallen meteorite. They have even started a website, which is currently under construction to encourage people to get involved with the search.
We are not quite sure what you would get out of helping to locate the missing meteorite, but it could be a fun adventure nonetheless.
