AN OLDER-THAN-EARTH METEORITE CRASHED IN GEORGIA
On June 26, 2025, an object appeared in the sky. It was identified as a meteorite.
Meteorites are pieces of space rocks that survive falling through a planet’s atmosphere and land on the ground. This one is one that landed in Georgia. A fireball is defined as an exceptionally bright meteor. While such meteors are usually observed at night, the one that appeared over Georgia in June was bright enough to be seen during the day.
The meteorite crashed into a house in McDonough, Georgia, creating a powerful sonic boom that shook houses and caused a crash through the roof of that house. A piece about the size of a cherry tomato went through both sides of a metal tube, the insulation, and the ceiling before hitting the floor.
The scientists learned that the meteorite landed only 14 feet (4.25 meters) from the homeowner, leaving a dent in the floor bigger than a US quarter. Scientists from the University of Georgia contacted the homeowner to learn more about the impact and the meteorite. The meteorite is way older than Earth. It formed about 4.56 billion years ago—about 20 million years before our planet! Scientists looked at tiny pieces of it under powerful microscopes and found out it’s a type of space rock called a Low Metal ordinary chondrite, which is pretty common.
They think it came from the asteroid belt, a place full of space rocks between Mars and Jupiter. A big asteroid broke apart there about 470 million years ago, and some of the pieces started moving in paths that crossed Earth’s. One of those pieces became the McDonough Meteorite, and it hit Earth at just the right time and place. This shows how debris from space can end up hitting our planet. Although it was only about the size of a cherry tomato, it was moving extremely fast—at least 1 kilometer per second. According to 11Alive.com, it hit a house with enough force to go through the roof, an air duct, and the ceiling, leaving a dent in the floor and making a noise like a gunshot.
This was a very rare event. It was only the 27th time a meteorite has been found in Georgia, and just the sixth time someone actually saw one fall in the state. “The fireball in the sky was super bright—brighter than a full moon,” said CNN. Studying space rocks like this helps scientists learn more about how our solar system began and how asteroids could be dangerous to Earth. The meteorite is now at the University of Georgia for more study, and some pieces will be shown to the public at the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia.
A space rock flew through the sky like a bright fireball during the day and landed on a house. Now, that rock has been officially named the McDonough Meteorite! “This event represents the 27th meteorite recovered in Georgia and the sixth witnessed fall, highlighting the increased recovery of meteorites due to modern technology and public awareness.” -The New York Times