Tennis ball-sized meteorite punches hole through roof in Virginia doctor’s office; no injuries
By APThursday, January 21, 2010
Meteorite strikes doctor’s office in Virginia
LORTON, Va. — Doctors at a small practice in Virginia got a big surprise when a tennis ball-sized meteorite punched a hole through their roof. No one was injured.
Dr. Frank Ciampi (chee-AHM-pee) says the rock struck the two-story building around 5:30 p.m. Monday in Lorton, about 20 miles southwest of Washington.
He says they heard a loud bang and found the projectile punched through the roof and ceiling, raining down pieces of wood, plaster and insulation.
The half-pound rock split into three chunks. Television station WUSA took it to the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of Natural History and experts confirmed it was a meteorite.
They estimated it was traveling about 220 miles per hour when it struck.
