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Another Meteorite Lands in a Connecticut "W" Town

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A meteorite has hit another house in Connecticut just 19 days after one landed on a home in Wolcott, less than a mile away.

In fact, all but one of the six reported meteorite falls in Connecticut over the past 200 years have landed in towns beginning with the letter "W," according to the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Two of the six landed in Wethersfield, separated by 11 years, and struck houses only a mile-and-a-half apart.

The most recent meteorite was found in Waterbury and scientists say it is likely that these incidents are connected.

Jay Langlois, of Red Maple Lane in Waterbury, didn't hear or see the rock fall from the sky, but noticed his broken gutter behind his house spewing water.

"The other day, because of the rain, I saw all this water coming out of my gutter," he said.

He didn't know it at the time, but a meteorite had crashed down and landed on his lawn.

The rock, about the same shape and size of an avocado, was still intact. It weighs 1.6 pounds and measures 2 inches by 2.5 inches by 4 inches.

Langlois said he's still in shock.

"That's just crazy. It's just unbelievable," Langlois said.

At first he thought his kids had thrown a firecracker at his gutter, but later his wife found the rock on the lawn.

Langlois contacted the same Yale University expert who confirmed the meteorite that crashed through a house in Wolcott on April 19.

Dr. Stefan Nicolescu, the collections manager for the Mineralogy Division at the Yale Peabody Museum, confirmed a meteorite landed on Langlois' home.

According to Nicolescu, the Waterbury meteorite is likely related to the one in Wolcott. He hopes to run additional tests of the two.

"What makes it really intriguing is the fact that this one hit the house as well," said Nicolescu.

The first recorded meteorite in the New World fell in Weston, Conn. in 1807, according to the Peabody Museum Web site.

Two meteorites also fell in Wethersfield, hitting two houses a mile and a half apart over an 11-year span.

  1. 1807: Weston
  2. 1971: Wethersfield
  3. In 1974, one fell in a street in Stratford.
  4. 1982: Wethersfield
  5. April 19, 2013: Wolcott
  6. May 8. 2013: Waterbury

 

 


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