A meteorite went through Duane Foster's garage roof in the hamlet of Worden in Salem Township on September 1, 1997, denting but not going through the roof of his car.
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Abstract–An ordinary chondrite fall in southeast Michigan, USA (near the crossroads hamlet of Worden in northeast Washtenaw County) penetrated the garage roof of a private home on 1997 September 1. The Worden chondrite comprises silicate matrix, mineral fragments, chondrules, chondrule fragments, and opaque primary phases. Electron microprobe analyses (olivine, Fa23.9; orthopyroxene, Fs20.1, En78.8, Wo1) indicate diagnostic L-chondrite silicate mineral compositions. Recognizable chondrules and chondrule fragments constitute up to 42 vol%. Chondrule boundaries are readily discernable (especially where chondrules have rims of opaque material) but not sharp, and discrete plagioclase crystals are visible in the devitrified mesostasis of barred olivine chondrules; together, these characteristics suggest petrologic type 5. The spatially averaged ensemble of shock-related features (optical extinction of olivine grains, minor localized shock melt) suggests assignment of a shock stage of S3.
After hearing a sound like distant thunder, a boom, and a crash, Duane Foster recovered a 1551 g stone broken into three fragments (largest 1496 g) from his garage. Mineralogy and classification (M. Velbel, MSU; D. Matty, CMU; E. Essene and M. Linke, UMich): olivine, Fa24; shock stage, S2. Specimens: type specimen, 33.5 g, MSU; main mass with finder.
- Meteorite Times, November 2003
As only the fourth witnessed meteorite fall in the Wolverine State, Worden is the second to have hit a house! Like a thief in the night, well actually the late afternoon, Worden punched right through the wooden roof of Duane Foster’s garage, but it didn’t pack the punch needed to make it through the steel roof of his car though Worden did give it a good try.
The Worden meteorite smahed through the garage roof and impacted the vehicle of Mr. Duane Foster on September 1, 1997 in Michigan, USA. The above image is a 350 gram end cut (the second largest piece from this fall) with red paint from Mr. Foster's vehicle. The main mass (and only piece) of 1.5 kg was purchased directly from Mr. Foster.
