Original subtitles

CHARLIE: Hi guys I'm Charlie! This is my sister Kirby!

KIRBY: Hey guys!

CHARLIE: Today we're hanging out in Arizona,

I think somewhere near Winslow... right?

Flagstaff is somewhere around here.

Not really sure, but we are sure that we found something pretty wicked, check it out.

Hey guys! You made it!

KIRBY: What's up?

CHARLIE: Welcome to Weird But True Headquarters.

KIRBY: We'll call it HQ for short.

CHARLIE: HQ works.

This is kind of like our club house?

KIRBY: It's like a work room? CHARLIE: Like a research room?

KIRBY: Sort of.

CHARLIE: Yeah like a research room.

This is where we get all of our projects done.

Like the big science projects.

They happen here in headquarters.

KIRBY: And today, we got a pretty awesome one.

CHARLIE: Ok so the craziest thing just happened, and we're kind of on a tear about it...

So, we just got back from an absolutely terrific campground in Wisconsin.

KIRBY: Go badgers!

CHARLIE: The best part? That night sky.

KIRBY: Oh man!

CHARLIE: Magical. KIRBY: Magic!

CHARLIE: Like someone just tossed a billion stars up there.

KIRBY: Just tossed 'em on up.

CHARLIE: So many stars!

In Chicago, where we live, there's so much light pollution that on most nights

we're lucky to see the moon and, uh...

Just the moon.

KIRBY: Yeah that's pretty much it.

CHARLIE: But that Wisconsin sky!

We saw so many shooting stars!

Kirby could hardly contain herself.

KIRBY: This is amazing!

-You two shush! Some people are trying to sleep!

CHARLIE: Sorry!

But then we had a little disagreement...

KIRBY: Gotta love a good shooting star.

They're asteroids, right?

CHARLIE: Pretty sure they're comets.

KIRBY: I don't know, Charles. Pretty sure they're asteroids.

CHARLIE: I don't know, Kirb.

I'm pretty sure they're comets.

KIRBY: They're asteroids.

CHARLIE: They're totally Comets!

-Shush! You're both wrong. They're meteors.

CHARLIE: Meteors? Hadn't thought about meteors before.

So, we've got a bit of an issue on our hands.

We've got asteroids, comets, and meteors.

And we're not really sure what's what.

KIRBY: They're asteroids.

CHARLIE: I know, but like, the question is what even is an asteroid?

KIRBY: I have no idea.

CHARLIE: See I don't know either!

So that's what we're doing today.

We're unraveling the world of...

Space Rocks!

Alright so I'm pretty sure we got it all figured out.

It turns out that all of these things, meteors, asteroids,

and comets can all be summed up as wait for it...

Near Earth Objects.

KIRBY: Near Earth Objects.

CHARLIE: Fun Science Word! Near Earth Objects!

NEOs are space rocks that come close to earth.

KIRBY: Nailed it.

CHARLIE: Right, so here are the players in the NEO game.

KIRBY: So first we got comets, A.K.A. Dirty snowballs.

CHARLIE: Comets, alright basically these things are huge rocky ice chunks made out

of ice, rocks, gases, you know, the good stuff.

It can be hundreds of meters long to 30 kilometers across.

So, they're pretty huge!

If you check it out, on the inside there's a rocky hard nucleus, but on the outside,

they're surrounded by this gas layer that makes up the tail, it's called the coma.

It can be hundreds of millions of miles long.

So, comets, dirty ice chunks.

KIRBY: Next up we've got Asteroids.

CHARLIE: Asteroids.

These things are pieces of other planets.

That are a lot bigger than comets.

Hundreds of times bigger than comets.

So, they're massive!

Unlike comets, there's no ice, there's no gas, there's no tails,

they're just giant irregularly shaped rocks.

Which is really cool because the come in all sorts of weird shapes like this.

Asteroids.

KIRBY: And then we've got meteoroids!

CHARLIE: Meteoroids!

Meteoroids are super tiny space rocks.

CHARLIE: They're basically very small pieces of comets, asteroids,

or other space things that are kind of floating around.

They're metallic and can be as small as a grain of sand.

Cool, cool.

So, meteoroids, super small space rocks.

KIRBY: Weird but true, in ancient Greece, comets were called "hairy stars"!

Easy enough.

CHARLIE: Yeah right?

But the cool thing happens when everything enters

Earth's atmosphere, they become... meteors.

KIRBY: So, you're saying meteoroids become meteors?

CHARLIE: Nah man everything becomes a meteor.

KIRBY: All of it? CHARLIE: Everything!

Asteroids, comets, meteoroids.

When they enter Earth's atmosphere, they all become... meteors.

But if they touch down on earth then they're called meteorites.

KIRBY: Oh my gosh!

Do you know what I just realized?

CHARLIE: I think I just realized it too!

KIRBY: The shusher!

CHARLIE: The dude from the campsite!

-Shush! You're both wrong, they're meteors.

CHARLIE: He was right! KIRBY: Crazy!

CHARLIE: All of the shooting stars we saw they were all NEOs passing

through the earth's atmosphere.

So that means they were all.

KIRBY: No way. CHARLIE: Meteors!

KIRBY: Crazy! CHARLIE: So smart!

How'd that dude know?

KIRBY: I don't know.

CHARLIE: You know what's next right? KIRBY: What?

CHARLIE: We gotta learn what happens when they touch the ground.

KIRBY: Meteorites. CHARLIE: Meteorites. Ready?

KIRBY: Let's do it.

CHARLIE: Alright guys, we gotta put together like a few

art pieces, and then we'll have so much to show you!

Ok? Awesome.

KIRBY: Weird but true, if you fell into a black hole, you'd stretch out like spaghetti!

CHARLIE: Hey guys! KIRBY: What's up?

CHARLIE: We're just finishing some up here.

A few more touches.

KIRBY: Perfect.

CHARLIE: Today we're checking out NEOs.

KIRBY: Near earth objects.

CHARLIE: So far, we've learned the difference between asteroids.

KIRBY: Comets. CHARLIE: And Meteoroids.

KIRBY: And now we're checking out impact events.

CHARLIE: Impact events.

That's what happens when two space objects collide.

(boom)

You get an impact event.

Come on down, check this out.

So, this is our solar system.

Roughly.

We got all the highlights.

The sun, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter.

KIRBY: Sup Jupiter?

CHARLIE: We got 'em all!

And beyond Jupiter, even past Neptune is where comets originate.

Asteroids are a little closer to home.

They reside mostly in the asteroid belt which hangs out between Mars and Jupiter.

So, usually they keep orbiting this far away, minding their own business, but sometimes,

interacting with different planets or space objects

can alter the paths around the sun.

And sometimes, that sends them...

Right in the path of Earth!

KIRBY: Pew! Pew! Pew!

CHARLIE: Scientists estimate that roughly 33 to 70 million kilograms

of space material falls to earth each year.

Most of the stuff is really small, the size of dust particles,

but some can be absolutely massive!

KIRBY: Awesome!

CHARLIE: And when big objects collide in space, that's when you get,

an impact event!

KIRBY: Impact events!

CHARLIE: When celestial objects collide.

In this case earth and meteors.

KIRBY: Pew!

CHARLIE: Usually, it's not too bad, nothing really happens,

but infrequently it can be absolutely catastrophic!

KIRBY: But that happens like never.

CHARLIE: Yeah, but luckily for you guys, we've uncovered some historic footage.

KIRBY: Some rare footage.

CHARLIE: Hey! KIRBY: Awesome!

CHARLIE: Yeah this totally works.

Ok, check it out.

Some historic news footage from the most important impact events throughout

the history of the world, from even before the dinosaurs were alive.

(record scratch)

KIRBY: Wait... they had cameras back then?

CHARLIE: Eh don't worry about it alright?

Ok Check it out.

Good morning early earth. I'm Charlie.

KIRBY: And I'm Kirby.

CHARLIE: And we're here for Big Bang News, with your latest

breaking early earth news stories on today's date,

4.5 billion years before present.

Here are today's top stories.

Big news coming in from our celestial unit as Earth now has a new moon.

This afternoon a mars-sized celestial body collided with earth.

A fraction of the debris has begun orbiting our planet and, we can hypothesize,

will eventually form a moon.

No one was injured during the impact because no one is alive on earth right now.

KIRBY: Terrible news this morning coming in from the Yucatan peninsula as a large

meteorite over 100 miles wide impacted earth near the future site

of a small Mexican village named Chicxulub.

We're receiving reports from prehistoric animals that the Chicxulub impact has caused

global fire storms, tsunamis, and vicious amounts of acid rain.

The outlook does not look good for our dinosaur friends,

as well as 80% of the species of earth.

CHARLIE: Good morning citizens of Siberia.

In local news a 220-million-pound space rock exploded last night

above the town of Vanavara.

Researchers have found 800 square miles of forest land and 80 million trees were

completely leveled by the resulting blast.

KIRBY: Top stories coming in this morning from Sylacauga, Alabama as sweet old Ann

Hodges was hit by a softball sized meteorite while sitting at home.

The large space rock blasted through the roof of her rental property, bounced off a radio,

and, hit her in the leg.

KIRBY: Ahh!

Luckily Ann is doing fine, with little more than a huge

meteorite shaped bruise, on her leg.

CHARLIE: That totally happened!

Ann Hodges, an extremely rare occurrence of a human being getting hit

by a meteorite.

KIRBY: Ah! Poor old Ann!

CHARLIE: Gotta admit it'd be pretty cool to find one of those though.

KIRBY: What? CHARLIE: A meteorite.

KIRBY: You think?

CHARLIE: Yeah, duh, meteorites.

KIRBY: Yeah but, you know, I got a guy.

-What? -Geoff, my buddy.

CHARLIE: Geoff? KIRBY: Totally! CHARLIE: Yeah?

KIRBY: Mhm let me just call him.

It'll take like two seconds.

CHARLIE: Kirby's got a meteor guy.

KIRBY: Geoff! What's up man?

CHARLIE: I think we're gonna let this play out for a bit, but come back when Kirby's

done with her call ok?

Like two minutes.

KIRBY: I'm thinking of coming to Arizona.

CHARLIE: Not too long. See you soon.

KIRBY: Weird but true, the planet Uranus was originally called George!

CHARLIE: Hey guys! Welcome back.

Kirby's just finishing up a call super quickly.

So, it should just take like a second or two ok?

KIRBY: Sounds perfect Geoff.

We'll see you soon. How's it going?

CHARLIE: What's up?

KIRBY: That was Geoff. CHARLIE: Geoff?

KIRBY: My meteorite buddy.

CHARLIE: Kirby's got a meteorite guy.

KIRBY: Yeah. CHARLIE: That's pretty cool.

KIRBY: We just gotta whip on down to Arizona real quick.

CHARLIE: Ok Arizona. You ready to go?

KIRBY: Let's go.

CHARLIE: Tucson, Arizona. The old Pueblo.

The Sunshine Factory.

Home to a couple cacti, the University of Arizona.

KIRBY: Go Wildcats!

CHARLIE: And Kirby's meteor guy.

Geoff! Meteorite All-Star!

Rock collecting and fossil hunting since the age of seven,

Geoff wrote the book on meteorite hunting.

Literally.

He wrote a book called 'Meteorite Hunting'.

Geoff's favorite weird but true fact is, the sunset on Mars appears blue!

KIRBY: Geoff? CHARLIE: Geoff?

KIRBY: Geoff? GEOFF: Do we have company?

CHARLIE: Ohh. GEOFF: Ohh, Kirby!

KIRBY: How's it going? GEOFF: Good to see you!

KIRBY: It's good to see you. GEOFF: How are you?

-This is my brother Charlie. -I'm really excited.

KIRBY: Guys, Geoff. Geoff, guys.

GEOFF: Hi.

CHARLIE: So, Kirby tells me you're a meteorite specialist.

We gotta ask, why meteorites?

I mean... what gets you so excited about 'em?

GEOFF: They're amazing! CHARLIE: Yeah?

GEOFF: They're visitors from outer space what's not to love?

We're gonna start with stone meteorites.

CHARLIE: Can we touch these?

GEOFF: Please do. CHARLIE: Ahh.

GEOFF: What is the surface?

KIRBY: Smooth. GEOFF: And?

CHARLIE: Black. GEOFF: Black! Why? Why?

CHARLIE: Burnt. GEOFF: Exactly!

The surface was super-heated as they blasted through the atmosphere probably to about

3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

KIRBY: Whoa!

GEOFF: And if you turn that one over, you see the inside

and you can see how thin that rind is.

KIRBY: Oh yeah. CHARLIE: Is this the crust?

GEOFF: Yes. CHARLIE: What was it called?

GEOFF: Fusion crust. CHARLIE: Fusion crust.

GEOFF: And that is a tell-tale sign of recently fallen meteorites.

CHARLIE: Weird but true, even though a meteor's burning up in the sky when it's falling

by the time it makes it to the Earth it's nice and cool to the touch.

So, you said these are recently fallen?

GEOFF: This one was probably picked up within a few days of the fall.

CHARLIE: Alright.

GEOFF: And this one probably a week or so.

And we know that because there's no hint of rust on it,

and meteorites are rich in iron even these stoney types.

So, after they've been exposed to even one rainfall, they'll begin to rust a bit.

CHARLIE: Hmm I'm guessing this isn't what most look like though.

GEOFF: This is actually what most meteorites on earth look like.

CHARLIE: Hmm and most of the ones that you find probably right?

GEOFF: Yes.

Meteorites by in large are very rich in iron and this is called a stone,

a stony meteorite.

Now the magnet sticking to a rock doesn't make it a meteorite.

CHARLIE: Yeah. KIRBY: Mhmm.

GEOFF: But it's a very good first step.

CHARLIE: Tell-tale sign.

GEOFF: Yes indeed. KIRBY: Very cool. CHARLIE: Mhmm.

GEOFF: Most meteorites will stick strongly to a powerful magnet.

CHARLIE: So, Geoff, these are pretty sweet but can someone like us find a meteorite

if we really wanted to?

GEOFF: Most definitely, I'm so glad you asked!

CHARLIE: Let's do it! KIRBY: Alright let's go.

GEOFF: Ok after you.

You ready to go find some meteorites?

CHARLIE: Yeah, let's roll! GEOFF: I knew it!

In addition to the metal detectors, I'm gonna give you these rock hammers.

And they have powerful magnets attached.

CHARLIE: Mhm. KIRBY: Mhm.

CHARLIE: There you go. KIRBY: Ay yo.

GEOFF: Very powerful. CHARLIE: Powerful.

GEOFF: Meteorites are rich in iron and we're gonna use the detectors

to find them so we're hoping to get a loud sharp target

with the detectors and once we have

that we're going to dig with these.

KIRBY: Cool. CHARLIE: Sounds great.

Here's a weird but true fact, even though we are in Arizona, small tiny

meteorites fall to the ground all over the Earth, every single day.

Most fall into the ocean so that makes the ones that we find even more rare

and valuable.

GEOFF: This is a training ground; we've buried meteorites here in order

to teach you exactly how to find them,

but to keep it interesting I don't know where they are.

CHARLIE: Oh.

-I got no advantage except I've been doing this

for a little while.

KIRBY: Kind of feels like you're vacuuming.

GEOFF: It does!

CHARLIE: We're just looking for rocks, but I've never been more amped up.

(detector sound)

KIRBY: I have something! CHARLIE: Oh!

KIRBY: Freaking out!

GEOFF: Let me see if we can pinpoint this.

KIRBY: Hey!

GEOFF: Yeah you definitely got a target there.

KIRBY: Yeah!

GEOFF: With your boot push away that surface covering,

maybe half an inch or an inch.

KIRBY: Ahh!

GEOFF: I think you already found your target.

KIRBY: Look at this beautiful target!

CHARLIE: Ahh!

GEOFF: Wow that's some of the best wire I've seen out here, well done.

Kirby you were looking for meteorites.

KIRBY: Yup.

GEOFF: You found a target, but it's not actually a meteorite.

What do you think we call that?

KIRBY: Umm. I don't know. What?

GEOFF: Go on, guess.

KIRBY: Watzomenjatzo?

GEOFF: Very good try. How about meteor-wrong?

KIRBY: Hey now.

CHARLIE: Ugh! KIRBY: No! Bummer.

Oh well.

CHARLIE: So many false positives today...

takes a toll on a meteor hunter.

KIRBY: Keep going...

never give up!

GEOFF: Hey meteorite hunters, I got a target over here I want you to check out.

CHARLIE: Woo! KIRBY: Ay yo!

CHARLIE: Finally, ugh. KIRBY: Exciting.

GEOFF: So, what I want you to do is take your rockpick, drag that magnet around.

CHARLIE: Slow but vigorous rake.

GEOFF: Exactly. CHARLIE: We're so close.

Come on!

GEOFF: That sir is a genuine meteorite from outer space!

CHARLIE: We got it!

KIRBY: Woo! CHARLIE: Hooray!

KIRBY: Awesome! CHARLIE: Woo! We did it!

Weird but true fact, the largest meteorite ever found is in Namibia,

it's estimated at 50 tons.

They're not too sure because no one's be able to move it yet.

I say we go find some more. What do you guys think?

GEOFF: I agree!

Ooh.

CHARLIE: Ohh!

GEOFF: Ah that sounds very good!

It's right in there.

CHARLIE: We got a big one!

KIRBY: Yes! Yes!

Ay yo! Ay!

CHARLIE: Ay! KIRBY: It's so huge!

CHARLIE: This one's massive!

GEOFF: That is how we do it!

Now that you found your own meteorites, I have a huge treat in store for you.

I'm going to send you to the most famous meteorite crater in the entire world,

and it's right here in Arizona.

CHARLIE: Can we hunt there?

GEOFF: Hunting's not allowed, it's a protected site.

CHARLIE: Hmm.

GEOFF: But that doesn't matter, believe me you

will not be disappointed.

CHARLIE: Hey that sounds pretty good. What do you think?

KIRBY: Let's do it. How do we get there?

GEOFF: I'll tell you.

CHARLIE: We gotta figure out how to get to this place

but it sounds pretty awesome, alright?

We'll see you there in a few minutes, at the meteor crater.

Awesome! Back in a flash!

KIRBY: Weird but true, moon dust smells like burned gunpowder!

KIRBY: Yep Geoff, we just made it.

I'll talk to you soon.

CHARLIE: See ya Geoff!

Oh, hey guys! We made it!

Winslow Arizona, Barringer crater.

According to our buddy Geoff this is one of the most well-preserved meteor

craters in the entire world.

KIRBY: 50,000 years ago.

Earth. Arizona.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the sky!

A meteor!

Traveling at 26,000 miles an hour!

Bam! Pew!

Explosions!

Rocks flying everywhere!

When the dust finally settled, nothing remained but this giant crater thing.

The End.

CHARLIE: Sounds pretty awesome, you wanna check it out?

KIRBY: Heck yes!

CHARLIE: You guys wanna check it out?

KIRBY: Let's go. CHARLIE: Awesome let's roll!

The Barringer Crater!

Alright, so we kind of just went for it, but honestly,

we had no idea what we were looking at...

Dude, look at this place!

KIRBY: This is huge!

CHARLIE: ...Until we stumbled across this guy!

Yo Kirb its Eduardo!

This guy's been a tour guide here for 20 years so if we wanna know

about this crater, this is the guy to talk to.

He is a Barringer Crater expert.

And his favorite weird but true fact is,

astronauts' footprints stay on the moon forever!

There's no wind to blow them away.

Hey Eduardo! How it going?

EDUARDO: Hey guys! Good! Good to meet you!

CHARLIE: This is Kirby.

KIRBY: Hey Eduardo nice to meet you.

CHARLIE: It's nice to meet you too!

Guys, Eduardo... Eduardo, guys!

EDUARDO: Hi guys.

CHARLIE: So, we heard this is the most well-preserved crater, right?

EDUARDO: It is the best-preserved crater.

CHARLIE: Best preserved crater.

EDUARDO: ...On the planet.

It's three miles around, a mile across.

CHARLIE: Mhm. KIRBY: Whoa.

EDUARDO: And its 550 feet deep.

CHARLIE: Alright, so check out how massive this crater is.

This is about the size of an Olympic swimming pool.

Here's a baseball field.

This is about the size of a football field.

Alright back to the crater.

How big was the meteor?

Did they know how big it was?

EDUARDO: Yes! We think...

that the meteorite was about 150 feet in diameter.

CHARLIE: Have they found pieces of it?

EDUARDO: Oh yes in the museum itself we have the the biggest piece.

There's one in New York City and there's one in Chicago both from this impact site.

CHARLIE: Where is Chicago is it?

We're from Chicago.

EDUARDO: The Field museum.

KIRBY: Hey!

CHARLIE: We go there all the time!

KIRBY: We love that place. EDUARDO: You gotta see that.

CHARLIE: We gotta check it out when we go home.

EDUARDO: Yeah there you go Charlie, it's called the Diablo Iron.

CHARLIE: Diablo Iron. KIRBY: It's a solid name.

CHARLIE: They name them.

EDUARDO: Most of that debris from the impact is on the west side.

KIRBY: Ohh.

EDUARDO: By Canyon Diablo.

CHARLIE: So, it came, it came from.

EDUARDO: From the east. CHARLIE: From this way.

EDUARDO: It exploded underground and there was this huge uplift and flip over

and that's what forms the crater.

In the process it disintegrated.

CHARLIE: Here's a weird but true fact,

this whole area used to be covered in this hard rock sandstone.

Meteor hits, huge explosion, now everything's pulverized into this rock flour it's

as fine as the flour you bake with at home.

Even weirder fact, when this stuff gets wet it turns into quicksand.

So, you said this happened 50,000 years ago, right?

EDUARDO: Right.

The only type of life form would have been your Woolly Mammoth.

CHARLIE: Mhmm.

EDUARDO: Bison, reptiles.

Now anything would have not survived if they were within a ten to 25-mile radius.

CHARLIE: Whoa! KIRBY: Whoa!

EDUARDO: Just from the impact.

CHARLIE: So, if people were around here at the time,

what would it be like?

They'd just be in a lot of trouble.

EDUARDO: You would have been toast.

CHARLIE: Toast, been fried, meteor fried!

EDUARDO: Nada.

CHARLIE: Nothing like spending the afternoon exploring the best-preserved crater

on the entire planet with our new buddy Eduardo.

KIRBY: Eduardo is the man!

He knew everything.

This visit was so amazing.

CHARLIE: Alright guys, we gotta go back to headquarters,

but we'll see you in a bit, okay?

Back in a flash!

KIRBY: See you soon.

Weird but true, the temperature on the moon can be hotter than boiling water!

CHARLIE: What's up guys?

We just got back from the Barringer Crater in Arizona.

KIRBY: Eduardo is the man!

CHARLIE: The best!

What about Geoff?

Hunting for meteorites on the ground!

KIRBY: My boy Geoff!

CHARLIE: What else did we learn today?

Ah NEOs!

Near earth objects, we got comets, which are dirty ice balls.

KIRBY: We got asteroids, irregularly shaped planet chunks.

CHARLIE: And meteoroids, metallic space sand.

KIRBY: And they all become meteors when they enter earth's atmosphere.

CHARLIE: And they become meteorites when they touch the ground.

Our favorite weird but true facts we learned today are: One meteorite hit earth 65

million years ago and wiped out 80% of earth's species including the dinosaurs.

KIRBY: Small meteorites fall to the ground every day.

CHARLIE: Rock flour is super fine powder that was created when a meteorite hit the earth

and pulverized the sandstone rocks.

KIRBY: Charles!

Glow in the dark stars!

CHARLIE: Hey!

KIRBY: This place is gonna be magic!

CHARLIE: Aw just like Wisconsin!

KIRBY: This is amazing!

CHARLIE: Ah! Meteorites!

KIRBY: NEOs!

CHARLIE: Impact event extinction!

Just like the dinosaurs!

How much do you know about dinosaurs?

KIRBY: Uh not that much actually.

CHARLIE: I heard they were feathered.

KIRBY: That's weird. I wonder if it's true.

CHARLIE: Next project? KIRBY: Absolutely!

CHARLIE: Alright.

Guys, thanks so much for stopping by!

Come by again when we discover more things that are weird but true!

Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services.