Rock that crashed through roof on to sleeping woman’s bed could have been meteorite, she says

British Columbia resident says ‘life is precious’ and admits she is ‘lucky’ to be alive after rare incident

Images of a meteorite that a British Columbia woman said struck her home last week (Ruth Hamilton)

A woman in British Columbia, Canada, was allegedly woken up by a meteorite that landed on her bed while she was asleep.

Ruth Hamilton told a local news website that she was asleep when she heard a bang and crashing sound last week. She allegedly also felt debris strike her face.

She was at home and in her bed when the incident happened, and was frightened by the crash and bang, she told The Golden Star.

“I just jumped up and turned on the light, I couldn’t figure out what the heck had happened,” said Ms Hamilton.

She then looked around and found a small rock, which she told The Independent had been confirmed as a meteorite by experts at Canada’s Western University.

Ms Hamilton, who said she also now had a hole in her roof, called 911 and inquired with a nearby building works about blasting work, before concluding that it was a meteorite that hit her home.

A meteorite is a small rock that is the result of larger meteors from outer space breaking up on collision with the atmosphere. According to Canada’s Royal Astronomical Society, meteorites can be over 4.5m years old.

“We called the Canyon project to see if they were doing any blasting and they weren’t,” Ms Hamilton said of the building works, “but they did say they had seen a bright light in the sky that had exploded and caused some booms”.

Meteorites often create a bright light when breaking up in the Earth’s atmosphere because of the compression of gas, or friction, which causes the burning of the rock.

“I was shaking and scared when it happened,” Ms Hamilton added. “I thought someone had jumped in or it was a gun or something. It’s almost a relief when we realised it could only have fallen out of the sky.”

She continued by saying that she hoped her insurance company would pay for roof repairs, and that the incident had allowed her to appreciate living.

”The only other thing I can think of saying is life is precious and it could be gone at any moment even when you think you are safe and secure in your bed,” Ms Hamilton told the website.

“I hope I never ever take it for granted again”.

The Independent has approached Canada’s Space Agency and the astronomical society for comment on the incident.