A suspected meteorite punched through the roof of a suburban Houston home Saturday, leaving behind a significant hole and a space-rock relic, according to resident Sherrie James and local reports. The incident coincides with widespread accounts of a loud, thunderous "boom" echoing across the city earlier that afternoon.
==The object, described as football-sized, reportedly tore through James's roof, ricocheted off a bedroom ceiling, and landed on her bed.== Firefighters initially suggested the object might have fallen from an aircraft, but later acknowledged reports of a meteor breaking apart over northern Houston.
Shards from Above
Witnesses reported a loud, thunder-like noise preceding the house damage, with social media buzzing about the unexplained sound around 5 p.m. Saturday. The phenomenon occurred as a one-ton meteor was observed breaking apart approximately 29 miles above Bammel, Texas. NASA confirmed the event, noting the meteor fragmented into multiple pieces over the Houston area, with debris detected between the neighborhoods of Willowbrook and Northgate Crossing.
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This celestial event follows a similar, albeit more widely publicized, meteor explosion over Ohio just days prior, which generated a sonic boom audible as far away as Pennsylvania.
A Fragmented Descent
The meteorite that impacted Sherrie James's Ponderosa Forest residence is just one of several smaller pieces believed to have broken off from the larger celestial body. While James's home is the only confirmed instance of property damage from the event, other reports suggest fragments may have scattered throughout the city. Ring camera footage captured the meteor's fiery descent across the Houston sky.
Fire Captain Tyler Ellingham, who responded to James's initial call, confirmed the incident but noted the difficulty in immediately identifying the object's origin. The Brenham Fire Department had also responded to earlier calls regarding the unexplained "boom" but found no immediate evidence of an explosion.
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