Can a meteorite get stuck in a tree?
It is possible but very rare. A falling meteorite could hit a tree and break branches, but most fall to the ground. A few have been found tangled in branches or roots.
Meteorites fall at a few hundred kilometres per hour by the time they reach the ground. If one hit a tree, it would usually break through leaves and branches and land on the ground below.
Hitting trees. Some meteorites have hit trees. Pieces of the Sikhote-Alin iron meteorite, which fell in Russia in 1947, broke branches and even snapped trees as they crashed through the forest. Searchers later found fragments embedded in wood and in the soil around tree roots.
Stuck in branches? A small meteorite could, in theory, get caught in a tangle of branches or a hole in a tree, like a ball stuck in a hedge. But this is extremely rare. Most meteorites are heavy and fall straight through.
Tree roots. Over many years, a meteorite lying on the ground might be lifted or surrounded by growing tree roots, the way trees sometimes grow around rocks and fences.
Forests are hard. Forests are one of the hardest places to find meteorites. Leaves, moss and soil hide them, and there are lots of branches and stones. That is why most meteorite searches happen in open fields, deserts or ice.
If you ever see a bright fireball over a forest, it is worth reporting, because scientists might help search for meteorites there.