Unbelievable Find: 20-Million-Year-Old Meteorite Crashes Through Georgia Homeowner’s Roof, Experts Reveal Its Origins!

A meteorite made headlines when it crashed through a Georgia home earlier this summer. This isn’t just any rock; it’s believed to be older than Earth itself!

On June 26, a bright fireball lit up the daytime sky, alarming residents in both Georgia and South Carolina. NASA confirmed the meteor exploded over Georgia, causing sonic booms that many heard nearby.

Scott Harris, a planetary geologist from the University of Georgia, studied pieces of the meteorite that were found in a backyard. One chunk was roughly the size of a cherry tomato and struck the home like a bullet, leaving a noticeable dent.

Harris discovered that these fragments date back about 4.56 billion years, making them around 20 million years older than our planet. He noted that the meteorite likely originated from a group of asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, which broke apart around 470 million years ago.

Interestingly, the homeowner mentioned that he’s still discovering tiny bits of space dust around his living room from this event.

The team at the University of Georgia, in partnership with Arizona State University, plans to name this meteorite the “McDonough Meteorite,” after the Georgia city where it fell. With this incident, Georgia now boasts 27 recovered meteorites and six witnessed falls.

Harris added that with today’s technology and a more aware public, it’s becoming less rare to find meteorites. In the past, falls like this occurred only every few decades, but now they happen multiple times within a span of 20 years.

This meteorite offers a window into our solar system’s early history and reminds us of the wonders above us. As we learn more about these cosmic travelers, we continue to uncover the stories they hold about the universe’s past.

For further details, you can look at NASA’s resources on meteoritics here.

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