A football-sized block of ice fell out of the sky on to the roof of an industrial building in Madrid [Mar 13], police say, denting the roof but without causing injuries.
"We don't know where it came from," a police spokeswoman said of the 20 kilogram lump.
"We've taken samples from the block which are in the process of being analysed."
A series of ice blocks fell around Spain in 2000.
Scientists have said the most likely explanation is a sudden freeze in the upper part of the Earth's atmosphere forming ice blocks that then fall into a restricted area.
FS carried the 2000 flurry of reported icefalls in Spain and elsewhere, so you can conduct a search for this info. If the pattern repeats itself, expect additional reports of such events soon. There are recorded instances of icefalls dating back to the 17th century and a hundred years later Napoleon assembled scientists to investigate the mystery. Science magazine along with the American Meteorological Society has made a study of the phenomenon, gathering samples of blocks that have fallen in more than 15 countries. The theory of jettisoned airplane waste water (blue ice) has been dismissed, as has accumulated ice on the wings. FS wonders if some falls actually represent cometary ice surviving entry into the earth's atmosphere.
(Original headline: Block of ice falls out of sky in Spain )
