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First evidence that a meteorite killed a human: study reveals 1888 report to Ottoman sultan of meteorite ‘falling like rain’ and killing one man and paralyzing another
- Meteorological Society researchers found evidence of an event in August 1888
- Documents kept by Turkish government archives describe a meteorite in Iraq
- He fell on the village of Sulaymaniyah and killed one man and left another paralyzed.
- The event was reported to Abdul Hamid II, 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire
- The odds of a meteorite killing a person are estimated to be around one in 250,000.
The first evidence of a person struck and killed by a meteorite could have been discovered.
Researchers from the Meteoritic Society have found evidence of a meteorite that killed one man and left another paralyzed after it fell “like rain” in a village in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, on August 22, 1888.
The event was recorded in three manuscripts kept in the archives of the Turkish government.
Researchers from the Meteoritic Society have found evidence of a meteorite that killed one man and left another paralyzed after he fell into a village in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, in August 1888.
According to the documents, the Sulaymaniyah governor informed Abdul Hamid II, the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, prompting speculation that other similar incidents may have been recorded elsewhere in the archive.
If true, the event would mark the first, and only credible, test of a human being killed by a meteorite – something scientists believe has a remarkably low probability of happening, with odds of around one in 250,000.
“Due to the fact that these documents come from official government sources and are written by local authorities … we have no suspicion as to their reality,” the researchers say in the academic document describing their findings, The Independent reports.
The meteorite landed in a village in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, formerly part of the Ottoman Empire.
While meteorites were never known to kill a person before, the grapefruit-sized Sylacauga meteorite of November 1954 was recorded as the first to cause injury.
Ann Elizabeth Fowler Hodges was hit by the meteorite after she crashed into the roof of her farm in Alabama, USA, in her sleep.
Abdul Hamid II was informed about the meteorite, as evidenced by three documents found
The 34-year-old woman was severely bruised on one side of her body, and the event attracted worldwide publicity.
There is also a lesser-known claim of a Milanese friar beaten and killed by a meteorite in 1677.
