Strange hold in window

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

Ummm.... yes. About four years ago one planet-buster missed us by ~30K miles. It was noticed as it travelled away... I'm not worried, not now its orbit has been calculated. Or has it? I don't recall if it was a single wandering lump or actually in an orbit of any sort.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

I had exactly that happen a decade or more ago when a dozy bird realised at the last moment it couldn't get through glass and rapidly air braked to a vertical stall just as it flumped itself onto the window. In dust, it made a perfect pattern of itself on the glass. We were out at the time and saw it when we got back, and since there was no sign of the bird, either it had flapped off or been dragged away by one of the surrounding creatures for a lunch date.

[Java Jive]

Rifle, or air-gun?

A bullet from a rifle's cordite cartridge, of any common calibre, even a .22, would have gone straight though the window, and the bullet would be lodged in the opposite wall (or even have gone straight through that as well), most probably leaving a relatively small hole through the window with a surrounding area of star fracture, but on rare occasions might drop out the entire pane. IF it was a bullet (I don't think it was), tracing the path back from the opposite wall to the glass would show beyond a shadow of a doubt from what direction the gun was fired. If the OP does find a conventional bullet in the opposite wall, or a hole made by one, then it's definitely time to ring the police, and not to touch anything in the room further until they've investigated.

However, from the photo, it looks as though this projectile did not actually get through the glass, but was stopped by it, imparting all its momentum to the shard of glass that it dislodged, which was found some way into the room.

I note the smiley, but, as I've previously noted, that doesn't fit the pattern of damage, which shows quite clearly the slanted direction in which the projectile was travelling when it hit the glass. It must have come from below and to the right of the window.

It looks to me as though a youth from next door crept behind their sheds, so as not to be seen by his/her parents, and fired an air-pistol from there, though, as another has noted, a small ball bearing, perhaps fired from a catapult, is another possibility. A ball-bearing would remain relatively or completely undamaged, and therefore could roll away down a crack, out of sight, or else some distance away, which may be why the OP couldn't find anything.

[Dave Liquorice]

*could be*. If it was man made junk re-entering why has NORAD or who eve= r track an awful lot of quite small bits of debris come up with what it was?

[Dave Liquorice]

It'll be in orbit around the sun.

[The Natural Philosopher]

the concept of 'orbit' in an N body system where the path crosses many of the orbits of larger bodies..is...not that useful

[Onetap]

Depends on how fast it was going and how much kinetic energy it had left when it hit. Proper rifled bullets slow down and lose their rotational speed at long ranges and then start to tumble. Pistol rounds can go half a mile plus, rifles several miles if fired at some elevation.

Besides, I think he said it was double glazed and the inner glass wasn't holed, so no bullets in walls.

I'd look outside for a projectile, but if it was a stone you probably wouldn't be able to pick it out.

[Onetap]

Is there a grassy knoll nearby? That'd be favourite.

[Nick Odell]

holed, so no bullets in walls.

I'm hoping to find that the window was single-glazed or else we will be getting into the realms of science fiction. In Message-ID: the OP says he found the piece of glass inside the room. I'm assuming it didn't pass through an inner pane of glass on the way there.

Nick

[Java Jive]

But, given that in this case we know from the pattern of damage that the projectile came from below and to the right of the window, and therefore very close range, any hypothetical bullet would still be travelling at much the same speed as its muzzle velocity, so would behave as I explained.

holed, so no bullets in walls.

No, as pointed out by another, he found the missing piece of glass well into the room.

wouldn't be able to pick it out.

Yes, it'll almost certainly be one of: air-pistol slug, a small round pebble, small ball-bearing. I suppose it could have been a marble, though I would have expected more damage and the projectile to have come into the room for something that size, unless it wasn't thrown very hard, whereas from the photo it looks as though the projectile itself didn't make it through the glass.

[Bill Wright]

Small meteor.

Bill

[Onetap]

Do we? You're making some wild assumptions. Probably a kid, with a catapult in the garden. And not a lone gunman, with a rifle in the book depository.

Did they? I couldn't be bothered to go back and look.

[The Natural Philosopher]

propelled by compressed air.

[Java Jive]

No, you're clearly shooting your mouth off without bothering to read the thread. I was not assuming anything:

1) It was Tony Sayer who mentioned ".177 and .22 rifles". I pointed out that, if he really meant a rifle as opposed to an airgun, the actual pattern of damage to the window pane DID NOT fit a rifle shot, but DID fit a much less-powerful airgun. 2) We know from the pattern of damage to the glass that the projectile hit the glass at a slanting angle, coming from below and to the right of the pane.

Yes

Possibly, or possibly an air-pistol. Either way he (as I assume - it usually is a stroppy boy, rather than a girl) probably fired from behind next door's sheds, or the alley between next door's front and back gardens, so that he wouldn't be seen, particularly by his parents. Fortunately for justice, if not for him, the laws of physics give him away.

It was quite funny the first time, because I thought you really were just joking. Now that I realise that you are merely being sarcastic through ignorance of what has gone before, it just seems like the lowest form of wit.

It would be more polite to others in this thread, not to mention a great deal better for the impression you give of yourself, not to bother contributing to something you can't be bothered to follow.

[dustie]

Even if they had, there's no way it could have been the cause, there's a fence and wall between their property and mine...

[Onetap]

On Sunday, September 23, 2012 2:52:47 AM UTC+1, Java Jive wrote: =20

I can't be arsed to read the clueless wibblings of the armchair ballisti= cs expert. You have deduced all manner of stuff from a photograph of a hole= in a window; I think not, Sherlock. You are deluding yourself. 'We' don't = know anything about it, other than that it's a hole in the glass.=20

HTF did the "projectile" come from below a ground floor window?

Air rifles are legally limited to 12 ft/lbs KE and I doubt a legal air ri= fle fired from the windows on the line of sight opposite would have enough = energy to penetrate the glass. I doubt anyone would be firing proper firear= ms out of a window. And don't start with the parabolas.

Probably a kid with a stone, but we'll never care. Put the deerstalker down and step away from the magnifying glass. =20

=20

=20

[N_Cook]

[Onetap]

Tony Sayer mentioned air rifles. He said "Don't look like any of the holes I made as a youngster with my trusty .177 and .22 rifles."

It's not CSI.

[Onetap]

Good point. One of my neighbours brought his cylinder mower around to cut m= y lawn, many years back. I had a broken leg at the time. When he'd gone, we= noticed a similar conical hole in the window. The glass was thicker than s= tandard window glass, which I think would have shattered; it was single gla= zing in a steel frame.=20

I didn't send him the bill. ;-) In fact I didn't bother repairing it unti= l the whole frame was replaced.=20

I'd forgotten all about that.