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FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- After finding a hole in the roof, debris in the bathroom and a strange rock near the toilet, the Nageswaran family realized they needed an astronomer, not a contractor, to fully explain what damaged their house.
Scientists determined that a meteorite had crashed into their central New Jersey home more than a week ago.
On the night of Jan. 2, Srinivasan Nageswaran walked into his bathroom and spotted a hole in the ceiling and chunks of drywall and insulation on the floor.
His mother, who has been staying with the family, recalled that she had heard a loud boom a few hours earlier and thought it was a post-New Year's fireworks explosion. But that didn't explain the mess.
The family initially thought an old patch job in the ceiling had come loose. But then Shankari Nageswaran, Srinivasan's wife, noticed that on the floor directly below the hole the tile was dented and that there was another dent on the wall. Near the back of the toilet, she found a metallic, golf ball-size rock.
Her husband shined a flashlight through the hole in the ceiling, then stuck a long stick in, and realized there was another hole in the roof. Two geologists from Rutgers University and an independent metallurgist concluded that the rock was an iron meteorite.
About 50 meteorites reach the Earth's surface each year, but there is only one report every year or two of meteorites hitting buildings, said Tim McCoy, curator of the Smithsonian Institution's meteorite collection.
Scientists determined that a meteorite had crashed into their central New Jersey home more than a week ago.
On the night of Jan. 2, Srinivasan Nageswaran walked into his bathroom and spotted a hole in the ceiling and chunks of drywall and insulation on the floor.
His mother, who has been staying with the family, recalled that she had heard a loud boom a few hours earlier and thought it was a post-New Year's fireworks explosion. But that didn't explain the mess.
The family initially thought an old patch job in the ceiling had come loose. But then Shankari Nageswaran, Srinivasan's wife, noticed that on the floor directly below the hole the tile was dented and that there was another dent on the wall. Near the back of the toilet, she found a metallic, golf ball-size rock.
Her husband shined a flashlight through the hole in the ceiling, then stuck a long stick in, and realized there was another hole in the roof. Two geologists from Rutgers University and an independent metallurgist concluded that the rock was an iron meteorite.
About 50 meteorites reach the Earth's surface each year, but there is only one report every year or two of meteorites hitting buildings, said Tim McCoy, curator of the Smithsonian Institution's meteorite collection.
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. Just wondering where did it originate from (idea, not meteorite),
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