The space rock was seen next to the damaged, cracked floor.
An American family living in New Jersey were left in for a shock this week when a possible meteorite crashed through the roof of their home. cbs news, A four- to six-inch object fell on a ranch-style home at Old Washington Crossing Pennington Road on Monday, damaging hardwood floors, according to the Hopewell Township Police Department. The family members were not inside the house at the time of the accident.
According to a statement released by police, a “metal object believed to be a meteorite” damaged the roof of the ranch-style home. The rectangular object had passed through the roof and ceiling of the house before it “impacted the hardwood floor” and came to rest, police said.
The space rock was seen next to a damaged, cracked floor in a photo shared by the department.
One of the residents, Suzy Cope, told CBS News that a meteorite hit her father’s bedroom, but no one was home. “I thank God my father wasn’t here, nobody was here, we didn’t get hurt or anything,” she said.
“We’re thinking it’s a meteorite, came from here, hit the floor here because it’s been completely damaged, it bounced up to this part of the ceiling and then finally came to rest on the floor there,” she said.
Ms Cope thought someone had thrown a rock at the house, until she took a closer look at the object, which was “hot” to the touch. She continued to tell the outlet, “I touched this thing because I thought it was a random rock, I don’t know, and it was hot.”
Emergency personnel checked the family to make sure there was no residual material or side effects from the object. According to Ms Cope, “everything became clear”.
Police said they have also contacted a number of other organizations to assist with the “safety of the residents and the object”. The Hopewell Township Police Department noted that the object may be associated with an ongoing meteor shower called the Eta Aquarids, a phenomenon related to Halley’s Comet that is visible from mid-April to late May and usually occurs on May 5 each year. appears around.
According to the outlet, Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer at the Franklin Institute, believes the object “could be four to five billion years old, a leftover from the beginning of the solar system.” Mr Pitts told the outlet, “It’s been running around in space the whole time and now it’s come down to Earth and fallen on their lap. It’s actually going to hit a house, be able to pick people up.” To be true, it’s really unusual and has happened very few times in history.”