‘Flaming basketball’ meteorite may have burned down this man’s home

Gustaf Kilander
·2 min read
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Authorities in northern California are investigating after a possible meteorite destroyed a man’s home in Nevada County.

Dustin Procita’s home caught fire on Friday night. Multiple witnesses have said they saw a bright ball of light fall from the sky, KCRA reported.

The area of Nevada County where Mr Procita lives is quiet.

“People around here are multigenerational cattle farmers or ranchers,” Mr Procita told the local TV station.

“Wide open spaces, this was kind of a farm cattle ranch area and not much around it,” Penn Valley Fire Department Captain Josh Miller said.

“I heard a big bang. I started to smell smoke and I went onto my porch and it was completely engulfed in flames,” Mr Procita said, describing what happened on Friday.

The bright ball of light appeared around 7.30pm.

A man’s California home was destroyed by what’s believed to have been a meteorite (Screenshot / KCRA)
A man’s California home was destroyed by what’s believed to have been a meteorite (Screenshot / KCRA)
A man’s California home was destroyed by what’s believed to have been a meteorite (Screenshot / KCRA)
A man’s California home was destroyed by what’s believed to have been a meteorite (Screenshot / KCRA)

“They said it was a [meteorite],” the homeowner said. “I’ve always watched meteor showers and stuff as a kid, but I definitely didn’t look forward to them landing in my yard or through my roof. I did not see what it was, but from everybody I talked to, was a flaming ball falling from the sky, landed in that general area.”

It took hours for the Penn Valley Fire Department and Cal Fire to put out the flames.

“I had one individual tell me about it first and like, okay, I’ll put that in the back of my mind. But then more people – two, three or four more started coming in and talking about it,” Captain Miller said.

A man’s California home was destroyed by what’s believed to have been a meteorite (Screenshot / KCRA)
A man’s California home was destroyed by what’s believed to have been a meteorite (Screenshot / KCRA)
A man’s California home was destroyed by what’s believed to have been a meteorite (Screenshot / KCRA)
A man’s California home was destroyed by what’s believed to have been a meteorite (Screenshot / KCRA)

When Mr Procita first saw video footage of the meteorite, he said, “oh wow, looks like a flaming basketball coming out of the sky”.

“Definitely feel very lucky that it was 30 feet away from me and not five,” he added.

“They say it’s a one in 4 trillion chance, so I guess I might be buying a lottery ticket today,” he said jokingly.

According to NASA, the southern Taurids meteor showers are occurring at this time, with the peak taking place over the weekend. Astronomers have noted that this year will have a higher number of fireballs than usual, KCRA reported.