A man in northern California, US has claimed that his home was destroyed by a meteorite last week after many reportedly saw a ball of light descending from the sky.
“I heard a big bang. I started to smell smoke and I went on to my porch and it was completely engulfed in flames,” Dustin Procita, a farm owner in Nevada, said as per a report by KCRA news.
Procita said he did not see what it was, but everybody he talked to claimed that it "was a flaming ball falling from the sky, and landed in that general area.” reported The Guardian.
He said a "flaming basketball” coming out of the sky was seen in a video around the same time his house was burnt.
{{/usCountry}}He said a "flaming basketball” coming out of the sky was seen in a video around the same time his house was burnt.
{{/usCountry}}“Definitely feel very lucky that it was 30ft away from me and not five,” he added.
Videos of a “fireball” or “crazy flashlight” in the sky, reportedly seen around the same time, were also shared by people on social media.
Meanwhile, the local fire department informed it was working with the state agency Cal Fire to investigate what started the blaze at Procita’s house, which is nestled in a rural area that is home to ranchers and cattle farmers.
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US space agency NASA said the southern Taurids meteor shower- which occurs each year from September to November- is peaking this week. It is created when Earth passes through a broad stream or “swarm” of pebble-sized fragments from the Comet Encke that then burn up in the atmosphere.
According to experts, the chances of getting struck by a meteorite are "astronomically slim", but it has happened before.