Last week I had the fortune of running across some interesting articles online that I posted on this blog site. Now this week I have a meteorological mystery that has scientists around the globe stumped!
From time to time we run across stories in the news where large chunks of ice fall off aircraft, making their way into yards and homes of unsuspecting residents. The ice is bluish in color and made up of waste material from the toilets of passing planes.
Well there happens to be another form of ice chunks that are falling from the sky and are completely different in make up and structure than the ones falling from passenger planes.
The story I am about to share is truly odd.
Can you imagine chunks of ice falling from the sky on a clear day that weigh as much as 25 to 35 pounds? Or how about as large as 440 pounds? Yes it is true and these cases have been documented and studied by scientists.
These ice chunks are known as megacryometeors. This term was coined by Spanish researcher and planetary geologist Jesus Martinez-Frias after an ice fall incident occurred in Spain during January 2000.
Here are several interesting links that discuss the phenomenon.
http://facstaff.uww.edu/travisd/pdf/iceballs.pdf
http://www.crystalinks.com/weirdweather.html
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03344/249503.stm
Of course you can do a google search and access more information on megacryometeors on your own. If you would like to share any ideas that you have on this mystery, we would love to hear your comments.
