A Fireball Dropped Meteorites Over Texas, and One Punched Through Someone’s Roof

A flaming space rock tore through the skies over Texas this past weekend, and a chunk of it may have dinged a Houston home.

According to NASA and reports from the American Meteor Society, a roughly one-ton meteor tore through the atmosphere over the Houston area on March 21, lighting up the sky in broad daylight and capturing the attention of more than 150 eyewitnesses. People described a bright streak followed by a sonic boom.

The meteor is estimated to be about three feet wide. It entered the Earth’s atmosphere at around 35,000 miles per hour, but it didn’t get far without breaking apart. Like most space rocks entering the Earth’s atmosphere, it broke apart midair about 29 miles above the ground, releasing the energy equivalent of roughly 26 tons of TNT. Most of it vaporized instantly.

Some of it didn’t, as one Houston area homeowner found out firsthand.

Texas Resident Reported a Meteorite Crashed Through Her Ceiling

Sherrie James reported that a chunk of the meteor may have punched through her roof and ceiling, a dense black space rock getting all snug and comfy in her home. Thankfully, no injuries were reported, though getting hit by a meteorite is a hell of a story you can tell for the rest of your life, assuming you survive it.

Radar data suggests additional fragments may have scattered across parts of northern Houston, sparking a treasure-hunting spree across the city as folks set out on their own to hunt down these potentially lucrative chunks of meteorite. Makes sense, considering that meteorites have a lot of scientific value and can fetch a decent chunk of change.

Days earlier, another fireball event seared skies across the northeastern U.S. and Canada, producing similar sonic booms. Experts say the two events are likely unrelated.

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