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There were many women there for a confirmation ceremony.
I had made clothes for the children. On St. Roch's Day, I stayed home to fit them.

2
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Everyone was sitting outside in the shade. It was a beautiful day.
Suddenly there was a flash of lightning! I had all the children's clothes ready.

3
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I told them to prepare the chimarrão while I tried on the clothes.
There was a flash overhead, but the sky was clear. Then came a faint noise.

4
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I looked up. Something like a little ball was very high above the house.
As it came lower, it seemed bigger. I called the women's attention to it.

5
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Suddenly smoke curled around it, and there was a tremendous explosion.
Stones went everywhere! The women went inside to pray the rosary.

6
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I stayed outside because I wanted to see what it was.
My husband had been playing bocce nearby with people from Ilópolis and Santa Lúcia.

7
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I said, 'God has sent me stones!' A large stone, perhaps 20 or 30 kilos,
rolled right to my feet. Another landed on the road by the bread oven.

8
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So many stones fell! So many people came to see them!

9
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The Earth is constantly bombarded by meteoroids. Most break up in the atmosphere
and reach the ground as dust. Air resistance heats them and makes streaks in the sky.

10
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One stone was too big for us to carry. My husband gave the others away.
[Inaudible] 'Didn't we already have enough stones? Did God need to send more?' [Laughter]

11
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That is how it happened. So many stones fell. More than fifty years later,
people came looking for them, even visitors from Germany.

12
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Some meteorites are mainly made of iron and nickel alloy.
The narrator compares their composition with Earth's core.

13
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One very large stone lay near the bread oven. People warned me
that lightning might strike it in a storm, so I moved it up onto a stone wall.

14
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The geologist questions whether a meteorite attracts lightning.
He mentions a 628-kilo meteorite at the Institute of Geosciences.

15
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I thought a star had broken apart in the sky. I knew it was not an airplane.
I watched it go toward Passo Fundo and Santa Catarina.

16
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The narrator explains that 'shooting stars' are not stars.
Small bodies enter Earth's atmosphere and make luminous streaks; most burn up.

17
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A stone fell right among the pigs, around four in the afternoon.
It did not hurt the animals or anyone else. I felt God had protected us.

18
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Earth is about 4.5 billion years old. There have been many mass extinctions.
One widely accepted explanation links the dinosaurs' extinction to an impact in Yucatán.

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The narrator reflects on the possibility of another major impact.
Astronomical calculations place such scenarios on immense timescales.

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The children were all little. [Inaudible] I felt God had sent it,
because stones flew everywhere and nobody was hurt. Fine gravel fell like snow.

21
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We go to sleep expecting the sun to rise the next morning.
The narrator reflects on faith and how suddenly things can change.

22
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To witness a meteorite fall and visit the site would enrich my studies.
We study the past through rocks, but imagination helps us picture it.

23
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'Meteorite!' And Putinga is the town of the meteorite! [Laughter]
The town of Putinga is the town of the meteorite.

24
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August 16 is the day. I was born on January 18, 1910.
You can work out how old I am.

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My name is Ideval Souza Costa. I am a geologist at the Geosciences Museum
of the Institute of Geosciences at the University of São Paulo (USP).

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[Laughter]