Skip to content
Tech News
← Back to articles

Meteor Rumbles Over Houston, as Six-Pound Fragment Crashes Into a Texas Home

read original get Meteorite Collection Kit → more articles
Why This Matters

This incident highlights the increasing frequency and visibility of near-Earth objects, emphasizing the importance of planetary defense and monitoring technologies. It also underscores the potential risks to homes and communities from space debris, prompting advancements in detection and response systems for both industry and consumers.

Key Takeaways

"It is the talk of the town today — the loud boom, the flash of light in the sky experienced by a lot of folks across the Houston area this afternoon," says a local Texas newscaster. "And then there was this — a home in northwest Harris county hit by something that crashed through their roof."

Travelling at very high speed, the six-pound meteorite crashed through their roof and through their attic, crashing again through the ceiling oF the floor below. It then bounced off the floor, hit the ceiling again — and then fell onto the bed.

CBS News reports:

NASA said in a social media post that the meteor became visible at 49 miles above Stagecoach, northwest of Houston, at 4:40 p.m. local time. The meteor moved southeast at 35,000 miles per hour, breaking apart 29 miles above Bammel, just west of Cypress Station, NASA said. "The fragmentation of the meteor — which weighed about a ton with a diameter of 3 feet — created a pressure wave that caused booms heard by some in the area," NASA said in the post. Across the Houston area, residents described hearing a low, rumbling sound that many compared to thunder, even though the skies were clear, according to CBS affiliate KHOU.

Earlier this week, an asteroid weighing about 7 tons and traveling at 45,000 mph traveled over multiple states. And last June, a bright meteor was seen across the southeastern U.S. and exploded over Georgia, creating similar booms heard by residents in the area.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.