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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With Siobhan Cowton
Aired August 31, 2002 - 09:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So what is the chance of getting hit by a meteorite, or even a piece of one? A billion to one, a trillion to one? Who knows?
Well, consider the story of Siobhan Cowton of Great Britain, who, lucky or unlucky, says one dropped on her foot. Siobhan's on the phone with us from Yorkshire, where the proof is always in the pudding. Siobhan.
SIOBHAN COWTON, FOUND METEORITE: Hi.
O'BRIEN: Good to have you with us. How are you?
COWTON: OK.
O'BRIEN: All right. First of all, tell us your story. You're walking in a field and it was a dark and snowy night. No. Anyway, tell us what happened.
COWTON: All right. I was walking outside my house to go and wait for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in my school shoes, when I was waiting for my sister to pull up, I saw something fall from the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) height. And then it hit my foot, so I looked down and I said (UNINTELLIGIBLE) stone (UNINTELLIGIBLE) inside and showed my dad.
And then we went onto the Internet and we found like, part of an iron meteorite, and it looks exactly the same.
O'BRIEN: Wow. Now, tell, now, first of all, did it hurt your foot?
COWTON: Yeah.
O'BRIEN: Yeah. I mean, would -- did you have to go to the hospital, or...
COWTON: No.
O'BRIEN: OK. It just -- was it coming -- how fast was it coming down? Do you have any way of estimating?
COWTON: I don't know.
O'BRIEN: All right. Now, when you picked it up, it was hot?
COWTON: Yes. O'BRIEN: How hot?
COWTON: Not that hot.
O'BRIEN: Kind of warm?
COWTON: It was, like, cold enough to touch.
O'BRIEN: Now, we're looking at a still photograph of it. It appears to be like it's very dense, perhaps made of iron or something, is that correct?
COWTON: Yeah, yeah.
O'BRIEN: All right. You know, I've talked to some of the experts on this before, and usually the stuff that makes it to the ground in the meteor department is the iron. What are the experts telling you? Is this very likely something that came from outer space?
COWTON: Yes, there's quite a lot of people have looked at it, and they've said it's like (UNINTELLIGIBLE) like there's quite a good chance that it is.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Well, now, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), part of it, I'm told, was kind of rusty looking. Is that correct?
COWTON: Yeah.
O'BRIEN: Tell me about that.
COWTON: It's like on one side, where when it comes through the atmosphere and it's, like, melted the skin of the rock. It's, like, rusty on one side, where, like, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) touched it in (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
O'BRIEN: It's interesting, because, you know, if you wanted to be a scientific sleuth about this, you could suggest that maybe this rock was on Mars at one point, where it could have oxidized and turned that kind of reddish color. Right?
COWTON: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Is that cool or what?
COWTON: Cool.
O'BRIEN: Yes? What have your friends said about all of this?
COWTON: They think (UNINTELLIGIBLE) lot of those TV companies and all that (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
O'BRIEN: So you're kind of enjoying a little bit of celebrity as a result of all this. Has this changed your life, Siobhan?
COWTON: Yes. Because, like, normally on a Saturday, I'd, like, go shopping, and, like, now I can't do it because of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) people swarming up and everything.
O'BRIEN: You're mobbed, huh?
COWTON: Yeah.
O'BRIEN: Wow. Do you like it, or are you getting a little tired of all this?
COWTON: It's cool.
O'BRIEN: It's cool.
COWTON: Yeah.
O'BRIEN: All right, so what's next in your odyssey of life?
COWTON: We've got to phone up somebody from the University on Monday, to arrange a time to take it up there and get it analyzed and that.
O'BRIEN: Well, would you do us a favor, Siobhan, and keep us posted?
COWTON: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Because we'd love to find out if they can find out where that rock came from. And we wish you well.
COWTON: Yeah.
O'BRIEN: All right. Great to chat with you.
COWTON: Is there like, any (UNINTELLIGIBLE) any things that you could send to me?
O'BRIEN: You know what, I think we can arrange that.
CALLAWAY: We can do that.
O'BRIEN: We will take care of that for you.
COWTON: OK.
O'BRIEN: Stay on the line, stay on the line, and talk to the person who's going to talk to you in a moment and get -- we'll get all the information, OK? We'll get you a tape. All right?
COWTON: Cool.
CALLAWAY: What a great kid.
O'BRIEN: Fantastic, Siobhan.
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