Iceballs

Italian Man Felled by Ice Ball
Discovery Earth Alert, Jan. 26, 2000

Mysterious falling ice balls claimed their first casualty when a man in the Italian city of Ancona suffered head injuries after being struck on Tuesday. The victim was hospitalized after getting hit by a chunk of ice weighing more than 1 1/2 pounds. Spain has also reported numerous similar incidents throughout the country over the past two weeks, including one 9-pound block falling on a car in the city of Seville. Officials in Italy said there were four separate incidents on Tuesday. Although the onset of the falling ice balls coincided with a spate of cold weather, experts could not explain the phenomenon. Italy's bout with the ice formations began last weekend when an 11-pound ball cascaded into the courtyard of a convent in the city of Padua.