A ring doorbell camera has captured the extremely rare moment a meteorite struck the earth, crashing just inches away from a house.
Joe Velaidum and partner Laura Kelly were shocked to discover the star-shaped pattern of dust outside their home on Prince Edward Island in Canada.
They checked their doorbell camera, where the unbelievable moment was captured on film. The footage shows the meteorite darting to the ground and exploding near the couple’s front door.
The rock is only visible in two frames of the video as it fell from the sky.
The asteroid can only be seen in two frames of the footage
Joe Velaidum
The sound of the crash was also captured – the first time the sound of a meteorite impact has ever been recorded with a camera.
Velaidum and Kelly were out on a walk with their dogs at the time, though Velaidum’s parents heard a “large bang” at the time of the crash.
The rock left a small dent in the walkway of their property, following the remarkable moment which took place last July.
“As we were cleaning it, they came over and Laura’s dad thought immediately that it could be a meteor. We were both sceptical,” Velaidum said.
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The footage shows the meteorite darting to the ground and exploding near the couple’s front door
Joe Velaidum
“But when we went onto the video cameras, we saw that something hit with a tremendous force in the exact spot I was standing just a few minutes earlier. That’s when we contacted Chris Herd, the well-known meteor specialist from the University of Alberta.”
After Velaidum sent samples to the specialist, Herd confirmed that the piece of rock was in fact a meteorite.
“It is surreal to think about just how rare and how close this encounter was. I was standing right at the point of impact, just minutes prior,” Velaidum said.
“It’s mind-blowing to think that this hunk of rock travelled hundreds of millions of miles and landed on our front doorstep where I was standing, exactly, a few minutes prior.
Dust and fragments sent to the University of Alberta
University of Alberta Meteorite Collection
“My partner Laura and I decided to take the dogs for a quick walk. There was nothing unusual about that at all… except that I stopped on the walkway to move a dog leash because the landscapers were scheduled to come and mow the lawn later that day, and the dog leash was on the grass. So I thought I would help. I never stop in that spot.”
He said that if he had stayed in that spot just a minute or two longer, he would have “certainly” been hit and likely killed by the meteorite.
Herd explained that it was the first-ever recorded meteorite to land in the province.
“As the first and only meteorite from the province of Prince Edward Island, the Charlottetown Meteorite announced its arrival in a spectacular way.
“No other meteorite fall has been documented like this, complete with sound.
“It adds a whole new dimension to the natural history of the Island.”