Meteorite crashes into Georgia home, revealed to be 20 million years older than Earth
A meteorite, older than Earth by 20 million years, crashes into a Georgia home sparking studies on asteroid impact preparedness.
In June 2025, a meteorite made a dramatic entrance into the Atlanta metro area, creating a spectacle that ended with a small fragment crashing into a home in McDonough, Georgia. Weighing one ton, the meteorite disintegrated 27 miles above Wake Forest, Georgia, unleashing energy equivalent to 20 tons of TNT and was heard as a sonic boom. Geologists Scott Harris from the University of Georgia and his colleagues utilized optical and electron microscopes to analyze the 0.8-ounce fragment, determining it was a staggering 4.56 billion years old—20 million years older than Earth itself.
The study classified the object as a low-metal ordinary chondrite, a type of asteroid fragment common to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Experts believe this specific fragment originated from a larger asteroid that broke apart approximately 470 million years ago. As these meteorite fragments orbit, they occasionally intersect with Earth’s path, allowing a rare glimpse into the solar system’s ancient past.
NASA's records confirmed the meteor’s swift travel through Earth’s atmosphere at cosmic velocity, faster than the speed of sound, an event that was widely reported across the region. As described by geologist Harris, the impact created multiple noises—a collision with the roof, a minor sonic boom, and its subsequent floor impact, which pulverized a portion of the fragment into dust. The resident of the impacted home noted persistent space dust in their living room weeks after the event.
Harris’s research aims to provide insights into how Earth can better prepare for and mitigate potential threats from larger asteroids and meteorites. As technology advances and with increased public interest, our ability to detect and recover meteorites is expected to improve, offering the scientific community critical data for better understanding cosmic dynamics.
The McDonough meteorite, now housed at the University of Georgia, offers a unique opportunity for extensive study. Its analysis not only sheds light on the composition and impact dynamics of celestial bodies but also draws attention to the frequency of such events. According to Harris, understanding these parameters can help prevent catastrophic outcomes in the future from more significant space hazards.
Sources: Gizmodo, University of Georgia, NASA