Ann Elizabeth Fowler Hodges

At 12:46 pm (CST)[4] on November 30, 1954,[5] a meteorite fell through the skies of Sylacauga, Alabama. It split into at least 3 fragments,[6] with one of the fragments falling through a roof, hitting and bouncing off a radio, then landing on Mrs. Hodges who was napping on her couch.[5] She recalled the meteorite came through her roof around 2:00 pm local time,[4] although the official time the meteorite flew through the sky was 12:46 pm.[6] The meteorite left a three-foot wide hole in the roof of her house,[4] bounced off of a radio and hit her around her upper thigh and hand,[5] giving her a large bruise.[7]

Mrs. Hodges and her mother, who was in the house at the time, thought the chimney had collapsed as there was a lot of dust and debris. Once they noticed the large rock, they called both the police and fire department.[8] Her husband, Eugene Hodges, came home later that evening at about 6:00 pm local time, unaware of what happened to his wife.[4] Mrs. Hodges filled him in by indicating there was a "little excitement."[4] That night she did not sleep well and ended up going to the hospital the next day due to being distressed from the incident, rather than from her physical injury, which was said to only be the large bruise on her upper thigh.[9]

A slice of the Sylacauga meteorite on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC

Members from the Maxwell Air Force Base went to the Hodges home to look at and confiscate the meteorite.[9] They confirmed its identity as a chondrite meteorite, and the Mayor of Sylacauga Ed J. Howard, originally intended to give it to the Alabama Museum of Natural History (AMNH) of the University of Alabama.[4] Mr. Hodges stated that he had "enough evidence that the thing fell in my house"[4] and the meteorite was eventually given back to the Hodges.[8] Although the meteorite had crashed through the Hodges home and hit Mrs. Hodges, the owner of the house, Birdie Guy, declared ownership. With a lengthy year-long legal battle,[9] Mrs. Guy and the Hodges agreed on a $500 settlement and Mrs. Hodges was able to keep the meteorite.

Ann Hodges had immense, although short-term, notoriety for the incident. About 200 reporters were waiting to talk to her outside of her house, most of which was unwelcome.[7] Ann was invited to, and attended, the show "I’ve Got a Secret" hosted by Garry Moore. Mrs. Hodges also received lots of fan mail and questions, although she did not reply to them.[9]

Mr. Hodges indicated they had received several offers for the meteorite while it was at the Air Force Base, but could not accept offers since it was not in their possession. One offer, he states, was close to $5,500.[10] By the time the meteorite was returned to Ann, after the legal battle with Mrs. Guy, they could not find a buyer after the excitement of the event had dwindled. In 1956, Mrs. Hodges decided to sell the meteorite to the Alabama Museum of Natural History,[11][5] against her husband's wishes, and as he recalled, for about $25.[10]

Ann and Eugene Hodges would later get divorced in 1964.[9]

Hodges died in a nursing home[12] from kidney failure[13] on September 10, 1972.[14] Her ex-husband died in 2012.[11]

The meteorite that flew through the sky that night was named the Sylacauga meteorite and the fragment that hit Mrs. Hodges was aptly named the Hodges Fragment.[6] Another fragment from the original meteorite was sold to the Smithsonian, while the Hodges Fragment remains on exhibit at the Alabama Museum of Natural History.[8][15]

The radio that was hit by the meteorite was later loaned to the American Museum of Natural History in 2005 by Eugene Hodges, fifty years after the impact event.[11]

The titular poem in Space Struck by Paige Lewis was inspired by the event, describing its aftermath from Hodges' point of view.[16]

• Exhibits - Alabama Museum of Natural History