Stars Fell On Alabama / Hodges Meteorite
Inscription:
"Stars Fell On Alabama.
"November 30, 1954. It was a cold, clear early afternoon when Dr. Moody Jacobs left his office for lunch. In the sky, he saw a trail of dark smoke and heard an explosion before white smoke shot out in several directions. “I thought a plane had exploded,” Moody said. Back by 1 p.m. he received a call to an Oak Grove home to treat Mrs. Ann Hodges who’d been struck by a “comet.” The descending fireball had actually been seen by many people across Alabama that day. The Air Force even searched for a crash. The next day, Julius K. McKinney, a farmer who lived near the Hodges, was driving a wagon when his mules shied away from a black rock in the road. After geological confirmations, McKinney sold the 3½ pound rock to the Smithsonian Institute where it resides today in the Hall of Meteorites. The Hodges and McKinney Aerolites are the only known meteors from that day but other “comets” surely reached the ground the day “Stars Fell On Alabama.”
"Hodges Meteorite
"The Town of Oak Grove, Alabama has the distinction of being home to the first modern instance of a meteorite striking a human being. On this property, owned by the Guy Family, an 8½ pound “comet” crashed into a house that stood 50 yards southwest of this site facing Odens Mill Road. It was around 12:30 p.m. on November 30, 1954 when Elizabeth Ann Hodges, who was feeling a bit ill, was taking a nap on the couch in the living room. The meteorite crashed through the roof, bounced off a radio and stuck her thigh. Even though she was under a couple of blankets, the grapefruit-sized rock left severe bruises on Mrs. Hodges left hip and hand. She became an instant celebrity. The Hodges meteorite has been on display at the University of Alabama’s Museum of Natural History in Tuscaloosa since March of 1956."
Erected 2010 by Alabama Tourism Department and the Town of Oak Grove.
Location. 33° 11.362′ N, 86° 17.671′ W. Marker is in Oak Grove, Alabama, in Talladega County. Marker is on Old U.S. Highway 280, 0.2 miles north of Odens Mill Road (County Road 36), on the left when traveling north.
