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A homeowner in Canada captured sound and video of a meteorite striking the Earth, and scientists believe it’s a first. He didn’t have to go far to get the video either as the meteorite smashed right into a walkway right outside his house.
The homeowner, Joe Velaidum of Prince Edward Island, Marshfield, told CBC News, “The shocking thing for me is that I was standing right there a couple of minutes right before this impact. If I’d have seen it, I probably would’ve been standing right there, so it probably would’ve ripped me in half.”
Making this event even more intriguing is the fact that Velaidum’s home security camera caught both audio and video of the space rock slamming into his front walkway.
University of Alberta
“It’s not anything we’ve ever heard before. From a science perspective, it’s new,” Chris Herd, the University of Alberta’s meteorite collection curator, told CBC News. “The meteorite itself we’ve been able to investigate since then, thanks to the owners.”
According to a University of Alberta press release, “After becoming curious about the dust in front of their home in July 2024, the homeowners checked their security camera footage and noticed an astonishing sight: the exact moment a rock came out of nowhere and landed on the path, scattering grey dust and fragments across the walk and grass. Blink and you’ll miss it: the rock can only be seen in one frame of the video, which indicates rapid movement, but the exploding dust and sound of the impact was undeniable. It clearly came from the sky and appeared to be a meteorite.”
Velaidum was able to collect about 7 grams of the space rock from the grass next to his walkway. Herd then visited the home and “documented the meteorite fragments, measured a 2 x 2 cm divot in the walkway formed by the meteorite’s impact, and recovered a subset of the fragments to become part of the University of Alberta Meteorite Collection.”
“As the first and only meteorite from the province of PEI, the Charlottetown Meteorite sure announced its arrival in a spectacular way. No other meteorite fall has been documented like this, complete with sound,” Herd said. “It adds a whole new dimension to the natural history of the Island.”