Chemistry from an alien world has been found in a meteorite that crashed into a house in New Jersey.
The meteor fell to Earth in 2024, producing a sonic boom over New York as it flew at 32,000 miles per hour. Shortly after, a two-pound meteorite fell through the roof of a house in New Jersey.
“I was at home at the time, heard a loud crash and found a hole in the ceiling of the master bedroom,” the owner of the home said. “I smelled a strong sulphur-like odor and saw many black fragments along with debris and black dust that covered my bed, carpet and surrounding areas.”
He then preserved the scene, using disposable gloves and aluminium foil to place pieces of the meteorite into glass jars. That meant that scientists were able to examine them, as the most pristine meteorites of their kind ever found.
Researchers have now studied those remaining fragments of that meteorite and say that it contains preserved bits from near the surface of a primitive asteroid.
Scientists were able to track the trajectory of the meteor through cameras including a doorbell camera as it fell, the American Meteor Society said. That allowed them to trace it back to low in the asteroid belt.
“A forensic study of the fragments revealed that they contained preserved bits from near the surface of a primitive asteroid where it experienced concentrated salty fluids—a process not previously known from this type of proto planet world,” said lead author and meteor astronomer Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute and Nasa’s Ames Research Center.
The work will help scientists better understand the makeup of asteroids – and could help answer questions such as whether they brought the materials to Earth that were required to allow life to flourish.
