November 30, 1954
Oak Grove, Alabama
A piece of a meteorite hits Ann Elizabeth Fowler Hodges, leaving a large bruise

The fragment crashed through Hodges’ farmhouse roof, bounced off a console radio, and struck Hodges in the thigh as she was sleeping on a couch. Though bruised, Hodges was not seriously wounded by the fragment, owing in part to the quilts Hodges was covered with. The incident is the only documented case of a human being struck by a piece of extraterrestrial material.

The sudden and furious attention thrown upon Hodges became overbearing. Additionally, the fragment became the source of dispute as to who was the rightful owner — the Hodges and their landlady argued over the piece until the case was settled out of court with the Hodges paying $500 for the rock — furthering Hodges’ stress. She suffered a nervous breakdown which in turn put a strain on her marriage; she and her husband separated in 1964. Hodges died of kidney failure in 1972.