Most of the time, you can freely choose your own citizen science project (see our Project Finder). But every now and then, a project crashes through the ceiling… and chooses you.
That’s what happened to a couple of doctors about a week ago in Lorton, Virginia, when a meteor traveling faster than 200 miles an hour arrived in their office with a bang. The mango-sized projectile put a “significant ding” into the floor just at the spot where the physicians often sit when examining patients. Luckily, the room was empty when the “project” arrived.
Listen to National Public Radio’s entertaining interview with one of these involuntary citizen astronomers.
And check out this video clip from a local TV station that covers the damage, the doctors, and the declaration by Smithsonian scientists that this was the real thing.
Have you ever had a close encounter with a meteor–or any other citizen science project that you weren’t exactly planning to participate in? Tell us your tale by adding a comment.