A suspected meteorite fragment tore through the roof of a home in northwest Harris County on Saturday evening, hours after a bright fireball illuminated the sky over the Houston area and generated sonic booms that shook residences across southeast Texas.
Sherrie James, a resident of the Ponderosa Forest neighborhood in Spring, reported that an unusual black rock, roughly the size of a football, smashed through her roof, ceiling and flooring shortly before 5 p.m. CDT. The object appeared broken from a larger chunk and landed inside her home, leaving a large hole. No injuries occurred, and there was no nearby construction or trees to explain the impact.
Fire Captain Tyler Ellingham of the Ponderosa Fire Department responded to James's call and examined the rock. Officials determined it likely originated from the meteor event reported citywide, given the absence of other sources. Ponderosa Fire Chief Fred Windisch described the object as appearing to be a meteorite that penetrated two stories before reaching the kitchen.
NASA confirmed the fireball sighting via its Space Alerts account on X. Eyewitnesses observed the meteor at 4:40 p.m. CDT, when it became visible 49 miles above Stagecoach, northwest of Houston. Traveling southeast at 35,000 miles per hour, the approximately 3-foot-wide, one-ton object fragmented 29 miles above Bammel, west of Cypress Station. The breakup produced a pressure wave responsible for the booms.
The American Meteor Society logged more than 100 reports of the fireball, with durations ranging from 1.5 to 7.5 seconds. Witnesses from Katy and Cy-Fair described a low rumble lasting 15 seconds that shook homes, while others in Hockley, Fulshear, Pearland and as far as Port Aransas reported thunder-like sounds under clear skies. Doppler radar detected possible meteorites falling between Willowbrook and Northgate Crossing.
The Brenham Fire Department investigated explosion reports near Highway 50, where witnesses saw a green flash, black smoke and heard a boom, but found no evidence of a terrestrial blast. Dashcam videos and social media captured the streak across the sky near El Campo and Grand Parkway.
As of Sunday morning, NASA had not verified the Spring rock as a meteorite, though experts noted such fragments can survive atmospheric entry. The National Weather Service also detected the event via lightning-tracking data. Authorities continue to monitor for additional impacts.
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