House in Germany struck by a meteorite — second such incident in a fortnight
Image credit: WetterOnline (stillshot)
A meteorite approximately 6.7 cm (2.6 inches) in diameter pierced through the roof of a family home in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany at 14:14 LT on April 25, 2023. The event took place 13 days before a similar incident in New Jersey, US. Fortunately, neither event caused injuries.
The object, weighing around 225 grams, was one of four that plummeted into the town.
“There was a lot of banging and rumbling outside. We thought lightning struck. Then we went outside and saw that two pieces of the roof tiles were lying down in the yard in front of the entrance,” the owner of the home told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
While splinters were found scattered in Gärtnerstrasse, a substantially larger fragment, weighing 3.5 kg (7.7 pounds) and ten times the size of one that struck home, embedded itself in a garden lawn 500 m (1 640 feet) away.
A spokesperson from the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) confirmed the rock to be a meteorite, emphasizing that such incidents are extremely rare. The majority of meteors disintegrate and burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere, typically vanishing before reaching the surface.
Interestingly, the last recorded meteorite landing in Germany occurred in 2002 when one struck the iconic Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria.
A similar event took place in the United States just 13 days later when a meteorite struck a home in Hopewell Township, New Jersey, U.S. The oblong, metallic object, measuring approximately 10.16 x 15.24 cm (4 x 6 inches), crashed through the roof of the home just before 13:00 LT on May 8 and dented the hardwood floor.
Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) sensors failed to detect the event in New Jersey, and it was reported by only a single eyewitness to the American Meteor Society. Nevertheless, NOAA’s recently accessible airport weather radar (TDWR) data clearly recorded it. The meteorite’s fall is evident in TDWR Doppler velocity data, likely due to specific radar scan parameters.
The meteorite experienced winds from ~300 degrees azimuth, reaching a maximum velocity of ~60 m/s (~140 mph), suggesting the meteorites are likely widely scattered on the ground.
Impacts from meteorites, traditionally regarded as exceedingly rare events, appear to be occurring with increasing frequency.
➟ Read more about similar events at #meteoriteimpact
References:
1 METEORITE IN THE HOUSE ROOF:”It banged hard” – FAZ – May 5, 2023
2 Meteor strikes through roof of German family’s house – I am Expat – April 29, 2023
3 Meteorite impact: Metallic object believed to be a meteorite hits home in New Jersey – The Watchers – May 9, 2023
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
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