Meteor Strikes Close To Home For An OSU Student

“The first minutes you didn't know what was going on. It could be anything from war, missile attack to aliens,” said Kirill Kliomov whose family lives in Russia.

When Kirill heard a meteorite hurt more than one-thousand people in Russia he didn't know what to think. 

“You're never prepared for that.”

Kirill is from the small town where the meteorite hit early Friday morning.  His friends and family still live there.

“My grandparents were saying they don't know what it is. My friends were posting on their social media pages that glass was breaking and they really thought it could be war.”

Kirill got a phone call from his grand-parents letting him know they were okay but he still had not heard from his parents.

“Of course I was really worried because you always expect the worst.”

While watching the footage on TV, Karill finally heard from his folks. They were not hurt. 

“I didn't know what to expect because those things happen once in your life.”

But Dr. Peter Shull, a professor of physics and astronomy at Oklahoma State University says meteors are not as uncommon as people may think.

“There are some statistics that suggest something of this meteor size or yard size hits the earth about once a month or monthly.”

But what is different about this meteorite is where it exploded.

“Most of that happens over the oceans so who would know.” Dr. Shull says meteorites move so fast it’s difficult to track them. “These things are totally random.”

He says a strike could happen right here in Oklahoma

“It could happen tomorrow over Oklahoma City.”

Although Kirill would love to see  a meteor for himself, “I think it’s more beautiful than scary,” he doesn't want his family going through that again.

“I'm really happy nobody was injured and everything's fine.” Meteor Strikes Close To Home For An OSU Student

Posted: Monday, February 18 2013, 11:14 AM CST