Colorless Meteorite Bruises French Woman on Her Coffee Break

A colorless meteorite struck a French woman who was drinking coffee on her balcony and left her with a bruise on the ribcage.

Disrupted Coffee Break

A woman was casually drinking coffee and going about her business when a strange rock from outer space struck her in the village of Alsace in eastern France.

The woman was talking with a companion while sitting outside on her patio earlier this month, on July 6, according to the French publication Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace (DNA).

Despite sounding innocuous when referred to as a pebble, the object still managed to bruise.

The unnamed woman claimed to have heard a loud "Poom" coming from the roof next to them and reported this to a French publication. Right after the disturbing sound, she experienced a shock to the ribs.

Colorless Meteorite

She initially thought it was an animal, possibly a bat, but soon realized it was more like a chunk of cement, the kind used to make ridge tiles. However, it lacked color.

When she had a local roofer examine it, he indicated that it might be a meteorite. Geologist Dr. Thierry Rebmann's further investigation only served to prove its extraterrestrial origins.

The iron and silicon composition of this meteorite made it seem like a common object. However, the fact that it struck a human is incredibly unusual. Experts say that the likelihood of dying from a meteorite is roughly 1 in 250,000.

The discovery of a meteor in a region with a temperate environment, like France, only made the experience odd. Only five meteorite landings in France have been officially reported so far in the 21st century.

According to Rebmann, finding them in temperate areas is quite rare. They combine with various components. On the other hand, they are simple to locate in an arid setting. According to Rebmann, researchers should examine the rock to ascertain its origins, The Weather Channel reports.

Not A Meteorite

Astronomer Jeremie Vaubaillon of the Observatoire de Paris stated that the rock in the image is unquestionably not from space following research.

The rocks have simply too many sharp angles to be considered meteorites, according to Vaubaillon. He explains that the images demonstrate that the rock is NOT a meteorite because the initial rock melts to the extremely hot plasma present when it is shooting into the atmosphere. Vaubaillon used the example of a melting ice cube to show how there are shortly no angular parts left. He claims that a meteorite experiences the same thing when it travels through the atmosphere.

There is little doubt that the French woman was injured on July 6. But Vaubaillon isn't the only specialist who has expressed doubt about the errant rock that is purported to have come from space.

According to François Colas, a Fireball Recovery and InterPlanetary Observation Network (FRIPON) astronomer, a meteorite typically descends from the sky at a speed of about 186 mph before hitting the ground. FRIPON is a sky surveillance network. Colas continued to explain that therefore, when the rock from July 6 struck, it should have caused damage to the roof, Space.com reports.