66-Year-Old Woman Woken Up by Meteorite Crashing Through the Roof on Her Bed

Ruth Hamilton, 66, was fast sleeping in her house in Golden, British Columbia, on a beautiful night when she was jolted awake by something extraordinary.

Finding a Meteorite in Bed

 
On the night of Sunday, Oct. 3, Hamilton was sleeping alone in her bed when she was startled awake by the sound of an explosion and her dog howling. She phoned 911 after turning on the light and saw a hole in the ceiling right over her bed. She recognized what had happened shortly after calling for assistance.

Hamilton told Global BC, "I flipped back the top cushion, and there was a rock."

The softball-sized object turned out to be a meteorite, which slammed through her house and landed inches from her head. Golden is roughly a four-hour journey west of Calgary in eastern British Columbia.

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No Injuries

Thankfully, Hamilton was unharmed, but she will have an almost incredible story to tell for the rest of her life.

Hamilton said CTV News, "It never hit me." "I had drywall debris on my face, but not a single scratch."

Hit by Meteorite

Although there have been reports of individuals being killed by meteorites throughout history, just one verified fatality due to a meteorite has occurred in the previous 100 years or so. According to Phys.org, the occurrence happened in Iraq in 1888.

Extremely Unlikely

It's extremely unlikely that a meteorite'll hit you. In contrast, a person is more likely to be struck by lightning several times in their lifetime than to have a meteorite strike their home only once.

The chances of lightning strikes are around 1 in 15,300, while the Mega Millions odds are closer to 1 in 302,575,350.

"There's roughly a one-in-a-billion chance that a meteorite will hit your bed in any given year," Peter Brown told CBC English. Brown, a physics and astronomy professor at Western University in London, Ontario, will be inspecting the meteorite in the coming weeks.

"This is the first time a meteorite has struck a bed in Canada," Brown noted.

Meteorites

Meteorites, contrary to common perception, do not burn when they hit the ground. So while they might have been warm when they landed, it wasn't nearly hot enough to start a fire in Hamilton's bed.

Shortly before it impacted Hamilton's house, the meteorite was seen in the sky above British Columbia and Alberta. Astronomers have established that the space rock came from the asteroid belt, which lies between Mars and Jupiter's orbits, based on recordings and accounts from individuals all across the region.

Preserving the Space Rock

Hamilton intends to preserve the meteorite after having specialists examine it more closely when it comes to the meteorite. The space rock is hers to keep because it landed on her property.

Hamilton told Global BC, "I guess I'm simply in awe." "Every time I walk into the room, I think to myself, 'Oh my goodness, it might have hit me.'"

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