A shocked family woke up to find a meteorite had smashed the windcsreen of their parked car after dismissing the loud noise in the night as a firework. Paul Butler, 55, and his family were watching TV at home when they heard a loud bang outside.
They dismissed the noise as fireworks and went to bed but the next morning, Paul went outside his home in Stratford-upon-Avon and noticed his parents’ car windscreen was shattered. His son Nathan, 12, discovered a small black shiny rock measuring around 2cm in length near the car which didn’t match with any other stones.
The eagle-eyed schoolboy put a magnet next to the rock which revealed it was magnetised which is a tell-tale sign the stone came from space. Online research revealed it was most likely to be a piece of meteorite which plummeted to earth.
A suspected meteorite found at the home of Paul Butler
Nathan said: “I was looking around on the ground near the car and right by the front wheel was a black rock that stood out from all the others. I wondered if it could possibly be a meteorite but wasn’t sure until we used a magnet and researched it online.”
Paul, who runs a firm providing forensic science equipment, added: “We all heard a loud bang in the night but didn’t think anything of it. We assumed it was probably someone letting off a firework. It was only when we came down for breakfast the next morning that I saw my parents’ car windscreen was smashed.
“I went outside with Nathan and he was looking around and found this strange black rock. It had a strange shape and looked like it had been burned. After Nathan tested it with a magnet we looked online and it looks like it was meteorite.
The car windsceen cracked by a suspected meteorite
“It is the only logical explanation for what caused the damage because it wasn’t there when my dad drove into the driveway. It must have happened on the driveway. The glass was inside the car and was covering the dashboard and driver’s seat.
“The impact looks like it splintered the glass and made a fair bit of damage but it’s very lucky no one was inside at the time.”
Paul’s parents Graham and June were forced to drive their Toyota to a nearby garage where they had to explain the cause of the damage. Paul added: “We found out it was about a billion-to-one chance of a meteorite hitting the car in our driveway so we’ve started buying lottery tickets.”
Nathan plans to take the space rock into Myton School in Warwick where he attends, to show off to his classmates.