What hit a Hopewell, NJ house Monday afternoon? Maybe a meteorite

🔴 The metallic object crashed through the roof of a Hopewell house Monday

🔴 It came to rest on the hardwood floor on the house

🔴 Experts are working to positively identity the object

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP (Mercer) — Police are working to determine what crashed into a house Monday afternoon leaving a hole in the roof.

Hopewell police said the 4-by-6-inch oblong shiny object hit the roof of the house on Old Washington Crossing-Pennington Road around 1:15 p.m. The object went through the roof, the ceiling and landed on a hardwood floor in a second-floor bedroom.

The home was occupied at the time but no one was injured.

Object that crashed into a Hopewell house 5/8/23 (NJ Public Safety News Alerts)

Sounded like a rock

Homeowner Suzy Kop told CBS Philadelphia that whatever struck the roof sounded like a rock. The object hit the floor causing some damage and ricocheted up to the ceiling before coming to a rest.

The object was warm to the touch, Kop told CBS Philadelphia.

Area of house where an object crashed through the roof of a Hopwell house. (NJ Public Safety News Alerts)

Just what crashed into the house?

Howell police are working with several agencies to confirm that it is a meteorite, possibly from the Eta Aquariids meteor shower.

According to Space.com, the Eta Aquariids peaked over the weekend. The shower is made up of particles ejected from Comet Halley in 390 BC. It is best viewed in the Southern Hemisphere but can also be seen in the Northern Hemisphere.

Object that crashed into a Hopewell house 5/8/23 (Hopewell police)

Dan Alexander is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dan.alexander@townsquaremedia.com

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.

LOOK: Here are the states where you are most likely to hit an animal

Hitting an animal while driving is a frightening experience, and this list ranks all 50 states in order of the likelihood of such incidents happening, in addition to providing tips on how to avoid them.

Top 20 lowest property tax towns in NJ in 2022

In descending order, these 20 towns had the lowest average property tax bills in 2022.

The 30 worst rated schools in New Jersey

Here are the 30 lowest-rated schools statewide, based on their 2021-2022 New Jersey School Performance Reports — involving scores for language arts, math and attendance. (For an explanation of how the state calculates the "accountability indicator scores" and overall rating for each school, see page 90 of this reference guide.)

Categories: New Jersey News