August 10

Archie, Missouri is a rather small town. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 890. It’s probably safe to assume that in 1930s it was either the same size or, more likely, smaller than it is today. On the 10th in 1932 a meteorite weighing roughly 11 pounds came rocketing out of the heavens, shattered, broke into at least seven pieces, and rained down on this quaint little backwater town. I don’t know why someone took it upon themselves to find out what kind of meteorite it was, but they did. Why would that be of any importance at all? In any event, it seems to have been a chondrite-type meteorite, whatever the heck that is. Why would someone go out of their way to find that out? If I’m sitting on the porch sipping on a new batch of moonshine I don’t think I’m going to be prompted to investigate too closely if a flaming rock suddenly appears in the sky and appears as if it is heading straight for my house. The only thing that would occur to me at that particular point in time would be to head for the basement. Wait, that’s what you’re supposed to do in a tornado. I think that I would just grab the jug and head for a neighbor’s house.