Why was there 17 recorded meteorite falls in 1933?
5 of those meteorite falls, happened in the USA. According to this data that’s the highest ever for any given year worldwide, however I’m not sure about the number in the USA however, that was 77 years ago and I don’t have time to go through 77 years worth of USA meteorite falls. There has actually been a decline in “reported” meteorite falls since 1933.
Logic would be if populations increase then more meteorite falls would be witnessed. However the opposite has happened.
Meteorite Falls By Year (Worldwide) 29% or 5 Happened in the USA
This intrigued me, and seemed counter-intuitive. Why were there more meteorites falling in 1933? What happened in 1933 that was so different than any other time in the history of the USA? Then it hit me. The Great Depression… Could this have something to do with the increase in number of witnessed meteorite falls?
SIGN: “Jobless Men Keep Going!”
Great Depression Unemployment Rates:
Great Depression Unemployment Rates Source: Wikipedia
Unemployment rates skyrocketed in 1933 to it’s highest point in the depression. Millions of people were outside traveling, looking for work to provide for their families. Millions of people were camping out under the stars, barely surviving.
In the last 100 years there’s only been 9 years where there was more than 3 witnessed and confirmed meteorite falls in the USA. All other years from 1910 to current there’s been 2 or less meteorite falls per year in the USA.
USA METEORITE FALLS: (by Year; 3 or more)
1917 = 3
1921 = 3
1924 = 3
1930 = 3
*1933 = 5 (Witnessed Meteorite Falls in USA Peak)
1938 = 4 “June, (1938) economic contraction ends, economy begins to recover”
1946 = 2 or 3
1950 = 3
1998 = 3
So what’s the deal? In the USA, meteorite fall “sightings” have declined. The rate at which meteorites fall probably has not declined however, and the data is skewed. The decline in sightings is most probably explained due to the lifestyle changes of the American people over the past 77 years. Most people live, work and play indoors.
Family Watching Television in 1958
Radios, televisions, computers, cubicles, and cars. Even our transportation obstructs our view of the sky.
The average American is indoors 90% of the time. Of that time, it’s usually during daylight hours when it’s very hard to see a meteor fireball even if you’re looking for one. Much less rushing the kids to soccer practice, picking up the dry cleaning, or running errands, commuting back and forth to work etc. Oh wait, some people actually go out on the weekends… Movies, dinner, theatre, are indoor events, even hockey games, baseball, and football is played indoors a lot of the time.
Am I correct in my analysis that it had something to do with people being outside more…?
I don’t think that less meteorites are falling today, nor did more meteorites fall in 1933. I simply think it’s a lifestyle thing.
Fireball events happen every night somewhere over the USA. Pick any single night of the year. If you could get every person in the USA (That’s 300 million people staring up at the sky) to stand outside and stare at the sky ALL night long for JUST ONE NIGHT this year, the number of fireballs sighted would most probably skyrocket! Big deal right…? Yeah, it is.
Now put a video camera in their hand…
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References: Encyclopedia of Meteorites | Meteoritical Bulletin | America’s Great Depression
Wikipedia: Great Depression | Hooverville | Civilian Conservation Corps
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