Is it me or does it look like the "meteorite" is moving quite slow. Shouldn't it be moving so fast that you'd need a high speed camera to see it in that detail?
Also...his parachute is always above him, maybe it fell out of that.
Also...his parachute is always above him, maybe it fell out of that.
http://cosmoquest.org/forum/showthread.php?35327-meteors-ram...
As for falling out of the parachute, and whether it really is a meteorite, the article discusses that: probably not, and almost certainly yes.
If it would have been in the parachute, it would be moving at the same velocity as both the parachute and the man. It obviously can't have been under the parachute, it would have droppped instantly, it doesn't.
If it would have been on top of the parachute it would have gotten a push upwards to reduce speed (but its still moving _downwards_ unless some magic explosion happened).
Now according to the video, from the time the parachute opens, it takes roughly 8 seconds (!) until the rock passes. During that time the mans velocity decreased substantially due to the parachute...
Well just do the math.
Aside: up until now I had imagined that if a skydiver were to ever drop a rock of that size (or a dense piece of equipment like a DSLR) during freefall they would never be able to catch it, but as the terminal velocity of a skydiver in "dart" position is about 320km/h that's not the case. Pretty cool.
Maybe I'm underestimating the quantity of meteorites falling on the earth but since the newspapers aren't exactly filled with news of people getting killed by falling rocks I'm not yet ready to believe that was a meteorite.
I guess it goes to prove that since nowadays we're almost all carrying video recorders with us at all times the probability of catching the most elusive events on video gets increasingly large. I expect to see a video of someone standing at the foot of a rainbow any day now.
Odds of a meteor are absurdly really low. Much more likely this is a fake or a rock packed in his chute.
I could believe that it's an intentional fake, maybe, but unintentionally packing a good-sized rock seems unlikely... although, I guess it's not as improbable as a meteor sailing past your head while you're skydiving!
Also, chutes are not packed with great care. A main (the parachute you generally use) takes an experienced packer 5-10 minutes to fully pack and some people hurry through it to get on the next load. Outside of two things you need to get right (make sure the slider is up, make sure lines aren't over the fabric), it will open. Most of the packing is all about reducing the pack volume and slowing down the opening, not ensuring it.
A reserve however (the second chute sport jumpers wear), gets packed by a certified packer and gets re-inspected and repacked at least once every 180 days.
Odds that I win the lottery this week are absurdly low. Odds that someone will win the lottery this week are quite high.