50,000 years ago an enormous meteor struct earth at over 26,000 miles an hour. Today you can still view it from the sky or even visit it on a drive across the beautiful Southwest.
When I first started flying commercially, I was often entertained with the numerous meteor crater stories from those crusty, old Captains I was flying with, as we traversed the Southwestern United States. Often, it was as if they thought they were enlightening me with sacred knowledge. (Like I'd never seen a crater before in the thousands of hours of my flying over the past 20+ years.) But, you have to humor the 'ole guys and gals, give them props like they think they deserve, let them believe they're your Yoda; you get the picture.
Sometimes, however, you hear 'a good one' and that's what we need and like up front, in the pointy end of the flying metal tube. So, this one time (not at band camp) a particular Captain tells me, the young First Officer, his story of “the crater.” I don't think it was first hand, but rather a good one passed around amongst pilots such that it became folklore. I, however, have my 'firsthand' crater story which I'll get to later. It's the one this now, crusty 'ole Captain passes on to my new First Officers, but in my case, of course it is truly enlightening. "Snatch the pebble from my hand, Grasshopper." Okay, back to the Captain's story.
He told me that back in the days, before 911, when cockpits were’t locked vaults, but a place where other crew members would frequent to relax, chit-chat, bring up drinks, etc., that a young, somewhat naive Flight Attendant was chillin' in the pointy end when along came the great crater, the 50,000 year old hole in the ground, a mile wide. After the Captain explained how big and deep it was, along with how long ago it struct Earth, this Flight Attendant, peering out the window to see the enormous hole in our planet said, "Wow, it almost hit the freeway!"
Okay, now that's funny, and when he told me this story, I lost it. Apparently, she was dead serious. Yup, good old Interstate 40 almost took a direct hit 50,000 years ago! And to think that there just happened to be a road veering off to the the South of I-40, ending up at the exact point of impact! Wow!
Now, here's my story. I'm still an FO, and it was still pre-911. Yup, another (just could not be the same one, right?) Flight Attendant visiting the cockpit, enjoying the views from our office windows, and breaking up the boredom of the 2 people stuck in the pointy end together for hourrrrrs.... Along comes the crater. As a Captain in training, I'm obligated to pass on the great wisdom of crater history that I have amassed over the years. It’s the story I pass on to my passengers too. Good stuff, right? As we're peering out the window together while I pass on my crater factoid knowledge, she's amazed. Yup, totally digging this new information I'm passing on to my Grasshopper. So, I finish and she whispers, "They didn't know it was coming?" I listen, I hear, I absorb, I evaluate, and I realize she's dead serious. I slowly turn my head, smile, and whisper back, "Nope, they didn't have CNN back then." Oh, I could've gone for the jugular, so to speak, but I didn't because she was so engaged and so serious. Then, she processed what I said and it hit her. Oops! She laughed out loud and was totally embarrassed.
Yes, the crater stories. There are many, but for that one, I was there. It was funny and the three of us laughed about it.
So, the crater is located just off Interstate 40, near Winslow, Arizona. It is one mile across, 2.4 miles in circumference and more than 550 feet deep.
To find more about the crater or even visit it someday on your travels across the Southwestern United States, visit the crater's web site. Yup, it has it's own web page! Meterocrater.com Now that's impressive. And a Facebook page too! I wonder if it has an iPhone...to phone home. ;)
Anyway, if you happen to be onboard while I am your Captain, you’ll hear me tell you all about 'The Crater' as we fly overhead. I'll even tell you the story about the highway and why they didn't know it was on its way to earth - no CNN and all that.
Mahalo for flying with Captain Bobby Mitchel
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