Grapefruit-sized meteorite strikes house
Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2004 6:38 am
Nothing coollike thatever happens to me!WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Reuters) -- A grapefruit-sized meteorite smashed through the roof of a New Zealand house, hitting a couch and bouncing off the ceiling before coming to rest under a computer.
The 1.3 kg (2.9 lb) chunk of space debris dropped out of the sky and plummeted through the tiled roof of the Auckland home on Saturday.
"I was in the kitchen doing breakfast and there was this almighty explosion," owner Brenda Archer told the Sunday Star-Times newspaper.
"It was like a bomb had gone off. I couldn't see anything, there was just dust."
The Archers, who are following expert advice by drying the rock out in their oven, plan to sell it or give it to a museum.
Experts believe the meteorite, a chunk of an asteroid, could be worth more than NZ$10,000 ($6,290), the newspaper said.
