The Perseid Meteor shower was so intense on the night of August 11th that it triggered a landslide along Interstate 74 in North Carolina.

Meteorites fell on a top of a mountain that overlooks the four lane interstate highway between Murphy and Andrews in western North Carolina. Rocks and boulders rained down on the road and authorities stated that traffic has been re-routed through the small town of Marble. The detour takes drivers along a scenic two lane road that runs parallel to I-74.

One report states that police officers were observed filling the trunks of their patrol cars with the precious meteorites that can fetch up to six figures on cyber auctions. The police officers would not let locals get near the site of the meteorite fall and reporters were also barred from entering the area.

One very wealthy meteorite collector landed his private Gulfstream jet at the small airport in Andrews, North Carolina and was given a police escort to the site of the meteorite fall. One officer who asked that he not be identified told IPP reporter Hector Finootch that the name of the wealthy collector was Mr. Dupont. He would not give a first name and was very reluctant to talk about anymore details with reporters.

Local residents of this poor rural county (Cherokee County) were very angry about not being allowed to pick up any of the meteorites. When police officials were pressed on this issue they replied that these poor old farmers would not know what to do with their new found wealth and that any monetary windfall would be more efficiently spent and enjoyed by wealthy folks. The public relations officer in charge of this area speculated that, "the first thing an old farmer would do with any new found wealth would be to go out and buy a tractor and end up killing himself".