19. In 1772, in France, the Academic Francaise investigated the fall of a large rock that landed with a loud explosion in Luce. How was this hot, smoking rock explained by the Academie to the scared peasants who reported finding it?
From Quiz Strange Things That Fell From The Sky 3
Answer:
The stone had been struck by lightning, tossed up, and fallen down.
The committee, who investigated the still warm rock, came to the conclusion that there was no way a rock could exist in the sky. Their theory was that lightning had struck the ground, exposed the rock, heating it up and hurling it up into the sky, and what the peasants saw was the rock coming back down. It was commonly thought in the 17th century that stones that fell from the sky were hoaxes. Actually, in all probability, it was a meteorite that put fear in the peasants of Luce, in the province of Maine.