Geologist says meteorite that crashed into Georgia home 4.56 billion years old

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Geologist says meteorite that crashed into Henry County home is 4.56 billion years old
Fionna Magee
WRBL Columbus
Fri, August 22, 2025 at 9:11 PM EDT
2 min read


HENRY COUNTY, Ga. (WRBL) — People across Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina were startled by a fiery streak racing across the sky back in June.



Roof damage caused by the meteorite. (R. Scott Harris/UGA)


The fireball turned out to be a meteorite, and its journey ended explosively, punching straight through the roof of a home in Henry County, Georgia.

Researchers say this meteorite is a time capsule older than earth itself, forming more than four billion years ago. According to university of Georgia planetary geologist Scott Harris, the fragment that hit the home was about the size of a cherry tomato.

It traveled faster than the speed of sound before crashing into a home on June 26th.

“This thing went clean through without leaving a trace of material on the exterior roof or the airduct,” Harris said. “Went through one side and dug out the other side of the air duct through thick insulation, through the ceiling, and then flew 10 to 12 feet to the floor before leaving a crater.”



Arrows showing the meteorite’s path. (R. Scott Harris/UGA)


The homeowner, just 14 feet away, described the sound as a very loud gunshot. Researchers recovered 44.5 grams of the meteorite. 23 Of those grams were donated to the state and UGA, where Harris examined the fragments.

Researchers believe up to 15 grams turned to dust on impact. “Dust that the homeowner, even to this day, is still pulling out of fabric in their furniture.” said Harris.

Harris said the meteorite is an L 5/6 ordinary chondrite, a type linked to asteroids between mars and Jupiter. Harris added that the L stands for low metal. He is able to determine the meteorites age based on this categorization.



Crater left from the meteorite. (R. Scott Harris/UGA)


While meteorites frequently hit earth, most fall in the ocean or are never found. This recovery marks only the second time in the last three years a meteorite has been retrieved in Georgia.

Harris and fellow researchers at UGA, as well as colleagues at Arizona State University will submit their finding to the Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society. They proposed an official name: the McDonough meteorite, after the Georgia city where it landed.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/geologist-says-meteorite-crashed-henry-011133782.html