Mysterious object crashes into New Jersey home

From: CTV.ca

Officials are mystified after a mysterious metallic object crashed through the roof of a New Jersey home, although one expert said it could be a meteorite.

So far, federal investigators have only said it's not from an aircraft and is emitting no radiation.

"There's some great interest in what we have here," Lt. Robert
Brightman told The Associated Press. "It's rather unusual. I haven't
seen anything like it in my career."

The object is the size of a golf ball but weighs as much as a can of soup, according to AP.

It crashed through a two-story house in Monmouth County on Tuesday
night, breaking tiles on a bathroom floor before rebounding into a
wall.

Brightman said Wednesday that authorities could identify the object
within 72 hours. But adding a further level of mystery, he didn't
specify what agencies were examining the metallic-looking ball.

Carlton Pryor, a professor of astronomy at Rutgers University, said
the object may not be that mysterious -- although he hasn't seen it. He
argued that dozens of objects crash to earth every day.

"It's not all that uncommon to have rocks rain down from heaven,"

Pryor told AP. "These are usually rocky or a mixture of rock and
metal."

He added that laboratory tests would determine whether the object is a meteorite.

The family that owns the house damaged by the object has preferred
to keep anonymous. But Brightman said the tenants -- a couple and their
adult son - discovered the object at 9 p.m. Tuesday, after hearing it
earlier punch a hole through the roof.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Arlene Murray confirmed the object did not come from an aircraft passing overhead.

"It's definitely not an aircraft part," she said. "I can't speak beyond that as to what it might be."

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