It doesn’t look like much, but the dark, metallic rock that one New Jersey woman found on the now-dented floor of her home came from outer space.
The rocky object, believed to be a meteorite, crashed through the roof of Suzy Kop’s home on Monday and bounced around the room, the Hopewell Township Police Department reported. The four-inch by six-inch oblong meteorite likely ricocheted up to the bedroom’s ceiling before settling on the floor.
No one was injured by the impact. Kop and her family were not home when the meteorite crash-landed.
“It appears whatever came from the sky fell through the roof of the top window that’s my dad’s bedroom,” Kop told CBS News.
She said she thought someone threw a rock at her house.
“I did touch the thing because I thought it was a random rock, I don’t know, and it was warm,” Kop told CBS.
Kop and her family called a non-emergency police line to report the incident. Authorities sent hazmat officials to the residence to test the rock and Kop’s family for signs of potential radiation, though all tests were negative.
The College of New Jersey conducted tests on the density and material of the meteorite.
Researchers determined the meteorite is an LL-6 chondrite, “a rocky meteorite characterized by tiny mineral spheres within its body,” the Washington Post reported. This type of meteorite is over 4 billion years old and likely originates from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Only 1,100 other LL chondrites have ever been discovered on Earth.
Mike Hankey of the American Meteor Society said in a statement from the Hopewell Township that “there are likely more meteorite fragments now scattered around the town.”
He encouraged residents with doorbell cameras to check the recorded footage for falling debris, flashes or an audible boom from 12 to 3 p.m. on Monday.
“All residents should be alert to look for black rocks on their properties,” he declared.
Despite a flood of requests, Kop and her family have no intention to sell the meteorite.
The investigation is ongoing.
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