Meteorite Crashes Through Lorton Virginia Doctor's Office

Jan 21, 2010 08:39 PM ET

Usually, I'm skeptical of any reports about chunks of space rock hitting vehicles, property, people or pets, as most instances have far more likely (and terrestrial) explanations.

Many accounts of meteorite strikes are hoaxes whereas others can be blamed on the Russian military dropping bags of cement from planes (really). But this report has been verified by meteorite experts at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C., Dr. Cari Corrigan and Linda Welzenbach.

A meteorite "no bigger than the size of a mango," according to a local news station, slammed into a doctor's office in Lorton, Va. on Monday, punching a hole through the roof, a firewall, ceiling and then drove a divot into an examination room floor before shattering.

Fortunately, no one was hurt, but this all happened a little after 5:30 pm, a short time after patients and medical professionals occupied that room. As far as close encounters go, this was a very close call.

"I recollect that this will be the fourth fall in Virginia," Dr. Welzenbach said while handling the suspect meteorite. "It's got a fusion crust -- this is what's happened after it's passed through the atmosphere."

The chondrite is estimated to have hit the building at a velocity of over 220 miles per hour (354 km/hr).

Most meteorites collected around the planet are confirmed to be chondrites. Chondrites are very important to scientists as the interior of the meteorite is untouched by the heat from re-entry through the atmosphere. Inside, primordial material from the formation of the solar system can then be studied.