--- title: "Cops Say Meteorite Appears to Have Smashed New Jersey House" description: "Not a Bird, Not a Plane A possible meteorite struck a house in Hopewell, New Jersey on Monday. Though the 4-inch-by-6-inch object hasn't been officially confirmed to be a space rock, it certainly looks like one. The timing also makes sense: according to a Hopewell Township Police Department report, it's believed that the instance may […]" date: "2023-05-10" modified: "2023-05-10" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/cops-meteorite-appears-smashed-house" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "meteorites" - "new jersey" - "space" - "the digest" --- # Cops Say Meteorite Appears to Have Smashed New Jersey House ![A possible meteorite struck a house in Hopewell, New Jersey on Monday — and incredibly, the decently-sized, maybe-space-rock is still intact.]() *\Image: Hopewell Township Police Department\* ## Direct Hit A possible meteorite struck a house in Hopewell, New Jersey on Monday. Though the 4-inch-by-6-inch object hasn't been officially confirmed to be a space rock, it certainly looks like one. The timing also makes sense: [according to a Hopewell Township Police Department report](), it's believed that the incident may be related to the Eta Aquariids, a meteor shower that reportedly reached its peak in the early morning [this past Saturday](). Thankfully, no one was hurt in the incident. That's lucky, considering that the rock fully smashed through the roof and landed on the New Jersey family's hardwood floor — but not before pingponging chaotically around the room. "It appears whatever came from the sky fell through the roof of the top window that's my dad's bedroom," Suzy Kop, a member of the affected family, [told *C*]()*[BS Philadelphia]().* "We are thinking it's a meteorite, came through here, hit the floor here because that's completely damaged, it ricocheted up to this part of the ceiling and then finally rested on the floor there." "I did touch the thing because it thought it was a random rock, I don't know," she continued, "and it was warm." ## Rock Puppet Though [scientists estimate that dozens of tons of meteoric material]() enter the Earth's atmosphere every day, few space rocks actually make it past our atmosphere intact. If the metallic object that hit the Hopewell home is indeed a chunk of cosmic rock, it would mark a rare — not to mention very cool — event. Fascinatingly, the Eta Aquariids is actually comprised of tiny chunks of space debris left by Halley's comet, the famous cosmic body that passes by Earth every 76 years. Derrick Pitts, the chief astronomer at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, told *CBS* that the maybe-meteorite might be four or five billion years old — meaning that it may have been around at the very beginnings of our universe. "It's been running around in space all that time, and now it's come to Earth," Pitts told the outlet. "And it fell right into their laps." "But for it to actually strike a house, for people to be able to pick \[it\] up, that's really unusual," he added. "It has happened very few times in history." **More on meteorites:** [*Scientists Find Building Blocks of Life in Meteor That Smashed into Family's Driveway*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()