Just how rare is a meteor?

FAIRBORN, Ohio (WDTN) - A meteor is a rare thing, but they do happen.  So we did some checking about how often meteors occur.

The green glow from a Wright State University lab is not from a space rock, but a laser used to measure new materials.

It was actually some much older material, millions of years old, that had everyone here talking.  "To be able to see something like this over a populated area is an extreme rarity."

Rare, but dangerous.  The meteor that burst over Russia injured more than a thousand people just from the shock wave of its mid-air explosion.

"All the damage that resulted from this was when the meteorite was still thousands of feet in the area," said Jason Deibel, Asst. Physics Professor, Wright State University.

Scientists will try to use high tech equipment like what you can find in a Wright State lab to look at the meteorite's remnants.  "You can learn a lot about it and predict where it came from."

What scientists can't really predict is when or where a meteorite may strike.  "These objects are small. By the time we detect an object like this it's too late."  Thankfully, most meteors burn up in Earth's atmosphere or hit unpopulated places.

"Something like this may happen once in a while but there's nobody else there to see it other than the coyotes."

What scientists can keep an eye on are bigger objects like the asteroid that brushed by Earth Friday, but had nothing to do with the much smaller meteorite.  One that scientists hope will convince others to keep looking up.

"We need to have trained students that this doesn't happen a year from now but we have people capable 50 years from now."