Sacramento Man's House Hit By Meteorite
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- There's a lot of anticipation worldwide about a NASA satellite that is hurtling its way toward Earth, but a Sacramento man already had an experience with falling matters from space.
Mike Gibson says he was awakened last month in the middle of the night with a giant crack and a bang and something rolling off the roof of his home on 21st Street.
He searched the area below where it rolled off and found a meteorite a little larger than a quarter.
Despite its small size, the space rock caused some damage -- a few thousand dollars worth to the roof in fact. It came from August's Perseid meteor shower.
The damage could have been worse, Gibson said.
"It almost penetrated the roof," he said. "It hit exactly on the beam, shattered the beam on the roof. Two inches to the side, it would have went right through onto my granddaughter's bed."
Gibson's daughter took the meteorite to Sacramento City College and the Astronomy department verified its authenticity.
Parts of the NASA satellite are expected to land Friday night, although not in the United States.
