Sylacauga
ADDPMP691Sylacauga is commonly called the Hodges meteorite because a fragment of it struck American citizen Ann Elizabeth Fowler Hodges. In fact, the grapefruit-sized fragment crashed through the roof of a farmhouse, bounced off a large wooden console radio and hit Hodges while she napped on a couch. The then 34-year-old woman was badly bruised on one side of her body; the event received worldwide publicity. The meteorite was later confiscated by the Sylacauga police chief, who then turned it over to the United States Air Force. Both the Hodgeses and their landlord, Bertie Guy, claimed ownership of the rock, Guy’s claim being that it had fallen on her property. They settled, with the Hodgeses paying $500 for the rock. However, by the time it was returned to the Hodgeses, over a year later, public attention had diminished and they were then unable to find a buyer. The Hodgeses eventually donated it to the Alabama Museum of Natural History in 1956.
The day after the meteorite fell, another citizen, local farmer Julius McKinney came upon the second-largest fragment from the same meteorite. An Indianapolis-based lawyer bought it for the Smithsonian Institution. A third fragment is believed to have impacted somewhere near Childersburg, a few miles northwest of Oak Grove.















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































