A meteorite measuring approximately 2 cm (0.8 inches) smashed the windscreen of a parked Toyota in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, approximately 35 km (22 miles) to the northwest of Birmingham, on December 26, 2024.<\/p>\n
The rock exhibits a shiny, burned surface, and is magnetized, a known characteristic of meteorites. <\/p>\n
The discovery was made the following morning by Paul Butler, who initially assumed the previous night\u2019s loud noise \u2014 around 22:30 LT (21:30 UTC), was caused by nearby fireworks. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe found out it was about a billion-to-one chance of a meteorite hitting the car in our driveway, so we\u2019ve started buying lottery tickets,\u201d Paul said. <\/p>\n
Meteorites are fragments of asteroids or comets that survive their passage through the Earth\u2019s atmosphere and impact the surface. The energy from a meteorite\u2019s high-speed descent can cause damage while most are small and harmless as evidenced by this incident.<\/p>\n
The International Meteor Organization (IMO) currently has no fireball data for the time\/date Paul reported.<\/p>\n
There is, however, an entry for a fireball at 18:36 UTC on December 26 with reports coming around Birmingham, making it a likely source of the meteorite. This event was captured on camera located in Llanyre:<\/p>\n
![\"uk](\"https:\/\/watchers.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/uk-fireball-heatmap-december-26-2024-imo.jpg\")
If you have witnessed this fireball event, let us know in the comments below and fill out IMO\u2019s fireball report.<\/p>\n
References:<\/p>\n
1<\/sup> Fireball event 8178-2024 \u2013 IMO \u2013 Accessed January 14, 2025<\/p>\n 2<\/sup> Stratford car windscreen smashed\u2026 by a piece of space rock \u2013 Stratford-upon-Avon Herald \u2013 January 11, 2025<\/p>\n
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