Debris left by the meteorite. (Photo: courtesy of the homeowners via University of Alberta)
You don’t have to have seen a meteorite crashing to know what it looks like—there are plenty of photographs, videos, and even some great accurate depictions in movies and TV. But do you know how it sounds? A Ring camera installed at a home in Prince Edward Island, Canada, caught both video and audio of a meteorite’s crash. And according to experts, it’s likely the first time this sound has ever been recorded.
A man named Joe Velaidum had the honor of being the first person to record this sound with his security camera. He had just left his home to take his dog for a walk when he heard a loud boom, and had he lingered a little longer, this scientific breakthrough may have had a more tragic ending, as the meteor landed right on his walkway.
“The shocking thing for me is that I was standing right there a couple of minutes right before this impact,” Velaidum told CBC News. “If I’d have seen it, I probably would’ve been standing right there, so it probably would’ve ripped me in half.”
While checking the debris, Veladium’s father-in-law, who lives nearby and heard the bang too, thought it was a meteor, but they were both skeptical. Once they saw the footage, it became clearer—something had fallen from above with tremendous speed and strength. To be sure, they reached out to meteor specialist Chris Herd .
“It’s not anything we’ve ever heard before. From a science perspective, it’s new,” Herd, University of Alberta’s meteorite collection curator, shared with CBC News: Compass. “The meteorite itself we’ve been able to investigate since then, thanks to the owners.” Velaidum sent some samples to Herd, who confirmed it was a meteorite. Particularly, it was an ordinary chondrite, the most common type of meteorite to crash on Earth. According to him, the rock was traveling at least 124 km/h (about 77 mph) when it hit Velaidum’s driveway.
The meteor is now known as the Charlottetown Meteorite, named after the capital city of Prince Edward Island. Coincidentally, Herd had a trip planned to the area, and was able to visit Veladium’s home and measure the divot, which was about an inch long. “It’s really awesome. It’s actually the first and only meteorite ever found on the Island, and what a way to make that discovery,” Herd says. “Every time that this happens, it’s a new sample from space. It’s from the asteroid belt… between Mars and Jupiter, so it’s come a long way.”
This is likely the first time the sound of a meteorite crashing on Earth has ever been recorded, according to experts.
The footage was recorded by Joe Velaidum’s Ring camera. The man had just left his home when the meteorite hit his walkway.
Divot left by meteorite. (Photo: courtesy of the homeowners via University of Alberta)
Once they saw the footage, it became clearer that something had fallen from above, and they reached out to meteor specialist Chris Herd.
Fragments of the meteorite that were tested at the University of Alberta. (Photo: courtesy of the University of Alberta Meteorite Collection)
Velaidum sent some samples to Herd, who confirmed it was a meteorite.
Photo: courtesy of the University of Alberta Meteorite Collection
“Every time that this happens, it’s a new sample from space. It’s from the asteroid belt… between Mars and Jupiter, so it’s come a long way.”
Photo: courtesy of the University of Alberta Meteorite Collection
Sources: P.E.I. homeowner captures sound and video of meteorite strike on camera, and scientists believe it’s a first; What does a space rock sound like when it hits the ground? First ever meteorite to land in Prince Edward Island is caught on camera, makes auditory history and ends up in U of A collection
All images via University of Alberta.
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