A cherry tomato-sized meteorite, which smashed through the roof of an Atlanta-area home, is believed to be around 4.56 billion years old, predating the Earth by nearly 20 million years. The space rock, officially named the McDonough Meteorite after the neighborhood it landed in, was spotted streaking through the sky in a blazing fireball in June before crashing through the roof of a residential building in Atlanta. Its age was determined to be older than the Earth after an examination of the fragments at the University of Georgia. “This particular meteor that entered the atmosphere has a long history before it made it to the ground of McDonough,” planetary geologist Scott Harris said in a statement. The meteorite was initially much larger and hurtling towards the ground at the speed of sound, before it slowed down and burned up in the atmosphere, leaving only a small fragment remaining. “You’re talking about something that is double the size of a 50-caliber shell, going at least 1 kilometer per second,” said Harris. “That’s like running 10 football fields in one second.” Despite being diminished, the meteorite still packed enough of a punch to smash through the homeowner’s roof and HVAC duct, denting his floor and creating a sound like gunshot. The resident, who does not wish to be named, says they are still finding fragments of space dust in their home even months after the incident.
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