Meteor suspected to have punctured residential roofs in Germany

The International Meteor Organization (IMO) received more than 2,800 reports of sightings of bright fireballs rushing through the dark sky on March 8. On social networks, users also posted a series of videos about meteorites. Witnesses reported hearing an explosion as the meteor broke up in the atmosphere, scattering debris across the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Many people in France, Belgium and the Netherlands also reported seeing this phenomenon.

The European Space Agency (ESA) said the fireball glowed for about 6 seconds before disintegrating. ESA’s Planetary Defense Division estimates the asteroid to have a maximum diameter of several meters.

Space said that many fragments were found in Guls district, Koblenz city, expected to help researchers determine the origin of the meteorite. German media reported that several houses were damaged but no one was injured in the incident.

Theo IFL ScienceKoblenz city police announced that a piece of a burning meteorite fell on the roof of a house in the Guls district around 7:00 p.m. on March 8. Sheet Bild Germany posted images of fragments believed to be from meteorites on the morning of March 9.

Every year, millions of space rocks cross Earth’s orbit, most of which are burned up as they enter the atmosphere. On a clear night, observers can see many meteors streaking across the sky within an hour. Every year, about 10,000 meteorite fragments crash into the Earth’s surface. However, most of them lie on the ocean floor, only a few hundred pieces have been found and recovered.

In 2013, the Chelyabinsk meteorite fell on Russia, breaking a series of windows and sending 1,000 people to the hospital.

In 1954, there was a confirmed case of direct injury from a falling meteorite. This person, Ann Hodges in the United States, suffered a severe bruise on her hip when a meteorite piece as large as a grapefruit crashed through the roof, hit the wooden radio and then hit her.