By Tim Binnall
Authorities in New Jersey are investigating an odd incident wherein what is believed to be a meteorite smashed into a residence and left a sizeable hole in the roof. The weird case reportedly came to light on Monday afternoon when Suzy Kop returned to her home in the community of Hopewell Township and discovered significant damage in an upstairs bedroom. Surveying the scene, she initially suspected that a someone had pelted the house with a rock, but soon determined that something far weirder had occurred. "We are thinking it's a meteorite," she explained, that plunged through the roof and ricocheted around the room until it "finally rested on the floor," which is where Kop found it sitting amidst the debris.
Remarkably, a curious Kop actually picked up the peculiar object, which she had suspected was merely a "random rock," and observed that "it was warm." The tremendous force with which it struck the home as well as its metallic characteristics led the family to ultimately conclude that it was actually meteorite. As of now, police in Hopewell Township appear to be in agreement, issuing a press release in which they detailed the strange incident that they classified as a "possible meteorite strike" in the community. They indicated that they have enlisted other agencies to help in "positively identifying the object," described as being 4 inches by 6 inches, as well as "safeguarding the residents" following their possible 'otherworldly encounter.'
To that end, Kop noted that emergency workers called to handle the matter were somewhat unsettled when they arrived on the scene. "They were afraid that, because it fell from the sky, was it radioactive? Could we have a type of residue on us?," she recalled, "so they scanned us and everything came back clear." Kop went on to muse that the family was fortunate that no one was home at the time of the suspected meteorite strike and, as such, "we weren't hurt or anything." Thought to possibly be connected to an ongoing Eta Aquariids meteor shower, an area astronomer marveled that "for it to actually strike a house, for people to be able to pick up, that's really unusual and has happened very few times in history."