This story was
updated at 5:45 p.m. ET.
A small meteorite
fell from the sky and crashed through the roof of a doctor's office in
Virginia, but luckily no one was hit, experts say.
The half-pound
meteorite struck the Lorton, Va.-based office of Dr. Frank Ciampi, a
general practice physician, on Monday evening while he was on the second floor
of his two-story building.
"It went through the
roof. It through one wall partition and then passed through a particle board
ceiling into the floor of an examination room," said Linda Welzenbach, manager
of the meteorite collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural
History, which confirmed that the object was indeed a meteorite from outer
space. "It's not really big. It's about the size of your fist."
It may be small, but
the space rock packed a big wallop when it struck the doctor's office at up to
200 mph, Welzenbach told SPACE.com. It broke apart when it hit the concrete
floor of the examination room, she added.
Witnesses described
the crash as sounding like a bookshelf falling over, she added. Ciampi's practice in Lorton is about 14 miles south of the
museum, which is in Washington, D.C.
"Apparently, it
was quite loud," Welzenbach said.
No one in the office
was hurt when the space rock fell. The meteorite split into several pieces when
it hit the ground floor, Welzenbach said. But many people witnessed the brilliant fireball created by the space rock as it
streaked through the Earth's atmosphere, she added.
A receptionist
working in the office is married to a geologist, who recognized the meteorite
for what it was. The meteorite was then carried by courier to the museum for
confirmation, courtesy of a local TV news station, Welzenbach said.
Welzenbach said the
meteorite is a chondrite, typical of most space rocks that fall
to Earth. It is also a beautiful example of a meteorite, she added.
"It's pretty, it's
very fresh," added. "It's a shame that it broke on impact."
The meteorite is only
the fourth reported to fall in Virginia. The first documented crash in the
state was reported in 1878, with the most recent occurring in 1924, Welzenbach
said.
The meteorite and its
fragments may eventually be donated to the Smithsonian's collection, she added.
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