Meteorite landing in Virginia draws international attention

bolton-meteorite

It’s not every time you visit the doctor that a meteorite crashes through the roof.But that’s exactly what happened in Lorton, Virginia, when one came hurtling down earlier this week.

“Literally an explosion went off,” said Dr. Marc Gullani. Gullani went on to say that the meteorite came down with such force that it dug into the concrete base of his exam room. After figuring out what it was, the good doctor boxed it up and drove it to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

Experts say that only five or six meteors reach the earth’s surface intact each year, and this is only the fourth one ever to be found in the state of Virginia.

The Lorton meteorite, as it’s now being called, has attracted attention from across the globe. A team of scientists in London is expected to confirm its existence as a true meteorite, and a filming crew from the Science Channel’s show “Meteorite Men” arrived on scene to shoot for a new episode. Host Steve Arnold, now in Lorton, noted that “this happens once in a blue moon.” To check out their visit to Lorton, watch the video at http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=96239&catid=158.

One man flew in from Las Vegas immediately after it happened, WUSA news 9 reports. He is not the only one traveling to the little-known town not far from the nation’s capital to come and see the new arrival from space.

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