In that it's bombarded by meteorites, anyway. The object that crashed into a New Jersey house has been confirmed as a meterorite by, well, looking at it:
The family has not yet given permission for physical testing of the meteorite, but from looking at it, Dr. Delaney and other experts were able to tell that the object it had been part of -- perhaps an asteroid -- cooled relatively fast.
It is magnetic, and reasonably dense, they determined. The leading edge -- the one that faced forward as it traveled through the earth's atmosphere -- was much smoother, while the so-called trailing edge seemed to have caught pieces of molten metal.
I really don't have anything to add to the story. Mostly, I just wanted to use this post title.
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Wasn't that reclassified as a meteorwrong - a piece of re-entered orbital space junk? A quick x-ray fluorescence will give elemental composition without damaging the lump.
Had the VICTIMS! had any smarts they would have retained possession and run to E-Bay. Never cooperate with civil authorities unless your lawyer breathes flame on the spot. One nation, under surveillance, with warrantless search and seizure for all.
How could I miss the ref to Springsteen's "Open All Night?"
Ain't nothin' space can throw at Jersey that hasn't already been synthesized or dumped there!
As a former 3rd generation New Jersey resident, let me defend a much-maligned state.
"Garden State" is not ironic. New Jersey is also a major horsebreeding and dairy state.
The Pine Barrens are a major wilderness, one of the last and largest on the eastern seaboard. I miss kayaking there.
New Jersey suffers in media because of its proximity to other major markets. In the other 49 states, poeple from NJ often answer the question: "where are you from" by saying either "near New York" or "near Philadelphia."
Similarly many "New York" sports teams actually play in New Jersey.
On the other hand, my mother and her mother (NJ residents) both died of cancer, and I wonder if the petrochemical industry played a role.