Meteorite misses man by minutes, captures rare footage
A camera in Canada captured the moment a meteorite struck the sidewalk in front of a house. The owner, Joe Velaidum, narrowly avoided tragedy. Scientists emphasize that it's a unique recording.
Joe Velaidum from Marshfield, a resident of Prince Edward Island, discovered damage to the sidewalk in front of his house after returning from a walk with his dogs. Upon checking the surveillance footage, he noticed a "mini-explosion" and heard its sound.
It turned out that a meteorite had fallen on the sidewalk
"I was standing literally over the exact spot where the meteorite hit just a couple minutes later," Velaidum said in an interview with CBC. "I have been thinking about it a lot because, you know, when you have a near-death experience it kind of shocks you," he added.
A friend suggested to him that it might have been a meteorite that fell in front of his home. Velaidum collected samples from the sidewalk and lawn and handed them to Professor Chris Herd from the University of Alberta. Tests confirmed it was a chondrite, a stony meteorite. Fragments weighing a total of 3 ounces were collected.
Canadian researchers shared their findings on the meteorite from Marshfield. Professor Herd emphasized that the footage is unique because you can hear the meteorite striking the ground.
"It's not anything we've ever heard before. From a science perspective, it's new," the expert noted.
What are meteorites?
Meteorites are fragments of cosmic rocks that reach the Earth's surface without burning up in the atmosphere. They attract scientists' attention, although the possibilities of finding them are limited. Searches are intensified in areas like Antarctica or the Sahara, where meteorites are more visible against uniform surfaces.
This is the first and only meteorite found on Prince Edward Island. Professor Herd explained that the meteorite comes from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, meaning it traveled a long way.
Meteorites typically enter the atmosphere at about 37,000 miles per hour, and this fragment was probably moving at 125 miles per hour at the time of impact. Their study provides information about the evolution of the cosmos and the formation of our solar system.
