Prince Edward Island homeowner Laura Kelly spotted meteor fragments in her driveway.
This is a science story of sheer luck. A meteorite made “auditory history” in July 2024 when a Ring doorbell camera captured footage of the space rock crashing out of a door. Meteorite experts at the University of Alberta in Canada studied the video and debris and said “it is possibly the first and only time the sound of a meteor hitting Earth has been recorded.”
The crash landing occurred in Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island in Canada. The Ring camera shows a windy and cloudy day. There is a sudden sound like glass breaking and a bulge of gray material on the right side of the frame. This is the meteor that hits the ground, leaving a small gap in the passage.
Homeowner Laura Kelly and her partner spotted the fragments and released footage of the crash. Kelly’s father, who lived nearby, encouraged her to report the rock to the U of A Meteorite Reporting System. The system walks users through a series of questions to help identify whether or not a rock is a meteorite. Signs of a meteor may include a rock heavy for its size attracting a magnet and having gray metallic flecks and a thin black crust on its surface. If a rock passes scrutiny, the public is encouraged to submit a report.
What is a meteorite?
Fragments of the Charlottetown meteorite are now at the University of Alberta Meteorite … [+]
Meteorites are rocks that pass through the Earth’s atmosphere and reach the ground. “Meteorites typically range between the size of a pebble and a fist,” NASA said in an explainer. They start out as meteoroids – space rocks that can be as small as a particle or as large as an asteroid. When they hit our planet’s atmosphere and burn up, they are known as meteors. These are the fun light shows we see during meteor showers when observing the stars.
U of A Meteorite Collection curator Chris Herd confirmed the space rock. Kelly and her partner used a vacuum and magnets to collect the fragments. Herd went to visit the site in person and found some of the fragments to include in the collection. The Meteorite Collection is the largest of its kind in Canada with over 1,800 specimens from around the world. Herd said the reporting system receives about 10 inquiries a week, but most of the rocks submitted are not meteorites.
A rare meteorite
The meteor caught on camera is a special case. “As the first and only meteor from the province of PEI, the Charlottetown meteor certainly announced its arrival in spectacular fashion,” said Herd. “No other meteorite fall has been documented like this one, complete with sound.” Herd suspects the meteorite was originally the size of a kiwi fruit before exploding upon impact. The meteorite is classified as an ordinary chondrite, a common type of meteorite.
The Meteoritical Society, an international planetary science organization focused on meteorites, has a listing for the meteorite in the Meteoritical Bulletin database, a catalog of known meteorites. The rock was approved for inclusion on January 13. The rock’s official name is “Charlottetown” and it is listed as the only approved meteorite in the PEI database.
Skywatchers are familiar with how meteors look at night. They often appear as bright streaks, giving them the nickname “shooting stars.” What is rare is to hear a meteor at the moment of impact. The shattering sound in Charlottetown came from a combination of space rock’s high velocity, its composition, and the hard material of the house’s track. It is a rare treat.
