Narrow escape as ice block falls from sky

Peter and Barbara Grey had been walking at the very spot moments earlier.
The drama happened soon after 2pm on Monday, at their home in Cox’s Lane, Midgham.
The pair, who own the specialist Grey’s Cheese Company Ltd shop in Pangbourne, were stunned to see the chunks of ice in a crater near their barn, which doubles as an office.
Mr Grey said: “It missed our house, barn and cars, by about 25m and would certainly have killed us if we had been there at the time. It was quite extraordinary.”
Mrs Grey said she initially believed she was looking at a large piece of polystyrene or foam before realising the huge chunks were made of ice.
The couple believe the ice fell from an aircraft and Mr Grey said: “We are west of Heathrow and aircraft do fly over us from time to time, but not frequently.”
However, such ice does not usually come from the plane’s lavatories as is commonly believed, but instead from condensation or from leaking pipes from the galley.
Water seeps out and ice begins to form at high altitude until the plane descends into warmer air.
Ice falls from aircraft toilet leakage, although rare, are not unknown, but these are usually coloured blue due to the disinfectant used.
One other possible explanation is a little known meteorological phenomenon known as a megacryometeor.
They are sometimes likened to huge hailstones, but do not need to form under thunderstorm conditions and can even form in clear skies.
One in Brazil is said to have weighed in at more than 50kg.
Well documented but little understood, they are sometimes confused with true meteors because they can leave small impact craters, like the one that landed on the Greys’ land.