Scientists: Object that crashed into Hopewell Township home was 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- Officials have confirmed that the object that went through the roof of a Hopewell Township home Monday is from outer space.
Scientists say the rock that crashed into Suzy Kop's home is a 2.5-pound stony chondrite meteorite.
"Came through here, hit the floor here. because that's completely damaged. It ricocheted up to this part of the ceiling and then finally coming down and resting just on the floor there," Kop said.
Scientists say it's as old as the beginning of the solar system.
"We suspect that it likely came from the asteroid belt that's between Mars and Jupiter, which, it's more or less leftover debris from the formation of our solar system," said the College of New Jersey assistant professor Shannon Graham. "So, if we were to date it, it would probably come in at about 4-and-a-half billion years old ... So it's leftover stuff from when the solar system formed between Mars and Jupiter, and a piece of it made its way to Earth, which is pretty cool."
Graham, a geophysicist, is part of the team that examined the meteorite at the College of New Jersey. She says there have only been 100 witnessed sightings of chondrite meteorites falling to Earth.
"Meteorites, they strike Earth fairly frequently, but finding them is difficult, and so any time you find one, you get another little piece of evidence to help us build a story about how the solar system formed," Graham said.
The family also said the meteorite was hot; scientist say because it was probably smashing into other objects on its way down.
The American Meteor Society is also getting reports of flight streaks and a loud noises 40 miles away in Union Township as the meteorite entered the Earth.
Right now, the meteorite is off-limits as scientists continue to examine it, however the family will get the meteorite back at some point and decide what to do with the rare find.
The meteorite will be named after the nearest postal address. It will likely be called the Titusville, New Jersey, meteorite.
