A meteor blew apart after streaking through the sky at 35 thousand miles an hour... It happened Saturday, afternoon, the 21st..... Early estimates suggest the meteor was three feet across and weighed about a ton...a little piece broke off and Sherry James was upstairs. "I heard this big boom, and then I heard another boof"
There was a hole in the ceiling, a dent in the floor and a rock between the bed and the nightstand with a couple of small fragments as well. "I told my grandson, baby look! What is that? And he said is that a meteorite?"
She called the fire department. And at first, they said it was likely a rock that fell from an airplane. first said...maybe it was a rock that fell from an airplane. James home is close to the airport. However, one of the firemen came back 20 minutes later and said they just learned a meteor exploded over North Houston.
Next, a Rice University professor from their space program and a museum representative came by and confirmed it's a meteorite.
James says the little rock, she wears gloves when she handles is, is quite heavy for its smallish, palm sized size. It weighs about two pounds. "It's black on the outside but the broke part where you can see the inside is gray. It just sparkles. A bunch of sparkles like glitter. She's been told it is an OC. meteorite. AKA Ordinary chondrites. Those are the most common type of stony meteorite, representing over 80 to 87 percent of all observed falls.
There is a market for meteorites. For now, it's locked away in a safe place. James tells me she's had a lot of offers but wants more testing before she considers a sale. Aside from whatever money it may bring, it's rather amazing to be able to hold it and call it hers. "Never in a million years I would have thought I would have something like this come into my house. I didn't want it to come through my roof like this. But it's really exciting and it's amazing to think where has this thing been and where it comes from and where it's traveled. This could have passed stars and planets."
