How close is "almost"?

[Cameramonkey]

So I sense some overreaction. Yeah, its a big deal. But no, his son was not "almost hit and injured" by it. Almost feels like dad is fishing for a payout from NASA.

Here is the story:

Space debris crashed through a FL home's roof. It was a 4x1 1/2 inch metal cylinder.
Here is the quote that got under my skin:

"It almost hit my son. He was two rooms over and heard it all," he said.

IMHO 2 rooms over is not "almost". In the average home, that's 20-ish feet away. In my mind, almost is in the same room. Dad would be correct if the kid was on the couch watching TV and it smashed through the TV or the other end of the couch.

If it was a drive by shooting and he was in bed but the living room couch got shot up, you wouldnt say he was almost hit by gunfire.
Sounds to me like dad is embellishing.

Nasa says part of International Space Station crashed into Florida home

The 0.7kg metal object tore through man's roof after re-entering Earth's atmosphere.

www.bbc.com

 

[klausm]

ya think?

 

[indykid]

I don't know, guessing that if fell from an object almost 300 miles straight up, and in an arc that covered several thousand miles, close is close enough.

And I agree, it fell in another part of the house, so was it really close?

 

[LEaSH]

Coach would tell us that, “Close only counts in horse shoes, hand grenades, and pregnancies.” Always made me laugh - then he made me run laps or something.

Now if it would have winged him at least…

 

[Brandon]

Could you get closer from that high up with that sized object?

Make them repair the house and not have to report it to insurance.

Close enough! Maybe give the kid a cool tour of NASA.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I don't know, guessing that if fell from an object almost 300 miles straight up, and in an arc that covered several thousand miles, close is close enough.

And I agree, it fell in another part of the house, so was it really close?

Yeah, when you consider the source and distance traveled only, anywhere on that side of town is "close". LOL

But where the rubber meets the road and you only consider the scope of the house, not really.

Like I said in the OP, if it were a projectile originating from the street, you wouldnt consider it a close call.