Death From Above

[ReconRat]

If you ever wondered why people say not to be standing outside on New Year's Eve. It's all those rounds fired into the sky, they have to fall back somewhere.

This is one of three found the week after. All found out in the open on sidewalks where they were easy to see. This one is .45ACP.

And just for fun, a pic flying over Atlanta last week. Stormy skies.

[kawi kid]

did you find that or is this just a public service announcement??

[ReconRat]

did you find that or is this just a public service announcement??

Yes, I found that one at work. Two co-workers found two others.

My neighbor that metal detects knows that bullets can be found anywhere, lots and lots of them. Oddly, he's also found a hand grenade in a park, and a 250 pound aerial bomb in a school yard. Go figure. He's got the skills, he did ordnance removal in Vietnam.

[kawi kid]

wow thats interesting as hell. a grenade and a freaking bomb

[e-flores]

Yes, I found that one at work. Two co-workers found two others.

My neighbor that metal detects knows that bullets can be found anywhere, lots and lots of them. Oddly, he's also found a hand grenade in a park, and a 250 pound aerial bomb in a school yard. Go figure. He's got the skills, he did ordnance removal in Vietnam.

??? 250lb aerial bomb??? are you kidding me?

[ReconRat]

I remember the school yard find in the paper. It was probably just a practice round. It was guessed that fill dirt from a place out in the countryside, that used to be used for Army Air Corp practice drops, was the culprit. (picture bi-planes zooming around) It got bulldozed up and dumped out in the school yard, without ever being spotted.

[mrmako777]

i saw an episode of mythbusters that showed a falling bullet wouldnt even pierce the skin

[R1Limited]

i saw an episode of mythbusters that showed a falling bullet wouldnt even pierce the skin

doubt that. almost every bullet that hits someone is falling... Unless you are under someone when you shoot them...

[ReconRat]

i saw an episode of mythbusters that showed a falling bullet wouldnt even pierce the skin

Indeed, the max velocity is around 160 mph. (135 mph for sky divers) But since that would hurt like Hell, no thanks. And if were a pointed round like military full jacket, don't count on it not piercing the skin. People in Iraq have died from those hitting them just falling back to earth. I've seen kids have to dig little BB sized pellet rounds out of their skin, where it fell from the sky. And if you look closely at this .45acp round I found, it appears that it was skipping down the street, still moving fast enough to kill or wound.

The "falling out of the sky" thing, is only when the round has completely expended it's energy going straight up, and then reverses and falls. Anything else, like a cannon shot that is ballistic, is flying in an arc, and can possibly have a whole lot more energy. Proportional to the angle of the arc that it was fired at. This is why there is a standard rule about firing a round, it can go up to 2 miles in the direction it was fired, and still cause harm.

Side note: if it wasn't for an atmosphere to slow objects down, objects in orbit would reach approx 40,000 kmh when they hit the Earth. Same as escape velocity when launching into orbit.

[Cdubyah]

Indeed, the max velocity is around 160 mph. (135 mph for sky divers) But since that would hurt like Hell, no thanks. And if were a pointed round like military full jacket, don't count on it not piercing the skin. People in Iraq have died from those hitting them just falling back to earth. I've seen kids have to dig little BB sized pellet rounds out of their skin, where it fell from the sky. And if you look closely at this .45acp round I found, it appears that it was skipping down the street, still moving fast enough to kill or wound.

The "falling out of the sky" thing, is only when the round has completely expended it's energy going straight up, and then reverses and falls. Anything else, like a cannon shot that is ballistic, is flying in an arc, and can possibly have a whole lot more energy. Proportional to the angle of the arc that it was fired at. This is why there is a standard rule about firing a round, it can go up to 2 miles in the direction it was fired, and still cause harm.

Side note: if it wasn't for an atmosphere to slow objects down, objects in orbit would reach approx 40,000 kmh when they hit the Earth. Same as escape velocity when launching into orbit.

Thanks for the physics lesson this morning! I needed to get my brain motivated.

[jagr]