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Buick Hit by Meteorite in Kettering, Ohio

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Buick hit by meteorite in Kettering, Ohio

Buick hit by meteorite in Kettering, Ohio

Some stargazers stayed up late Saturday night into early Sunday morning to watch Earth’s most recent meteor shower, but one man from Kettering, Ohio, had eyes only for the road before him as he drove home along I-75 North. Although many of the meteor shower’s onlookers didn’t see a darn thing, Joe Massa’s unsuspecting eyes got a taste of the show up close and personal when one meteorite allegedly struck the front of his Buick. Yes, really.


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According to the Dayton Daily News, Mr. Massa’s Buick was struck by something at 2am. Massa could reportedly see “a light, shadow, a beam of light, small. Within a split second, something hit me, the front of the car was pushed over into the far left lane.” He even reported a big flash when it hit (but he did not report being subsequently abducted by aliens and having his brain sucked out with a straw, though an investigation is pending).

It turns out that Massa may not be as full of it as he sounds. Rich Wirdzek, who is a Dayton-area meteorologist, reported, “On any given day, space junk falls into the Earth’s atmosphere, but usually it’s just dust. However, large pieces can make it to the ground during meteor showers like the one that was near the Earth this weekend.”

The rare event, which reportedly had a 1 in 275 million chance of happening, left a dent in Massa’s Buick’s bumper that indicates a downward motion. According to Wirdzek, while the meteorite was probably no bigger than egg, it was its speed that likely led to such tremendous damage.

While having his prized Buick hit by meteorite debris was not something Massa was looking forward to, it’s certainly a story that he’ll treasure for years to come. His insurance company, however, begs to differ.


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