Spectacular fireball over Europe sends meteorite crashing through roof of German home

A meteorite has crashed through the roof of a house in the city of Koblenz in the west of Germany after a spectacular fireball lit up the night sky above western Europe on Sunday evening, March 8.

More than 2,800 sightings of the fireball have been reported to the International Meteor Organization (IMO), with dozens of video recordings having been uploaded on social media. Witnesses reported hearing multiple explosions as the space rock disintegrated in the atmosphere, showering fragments across the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

According to available reports, multiple fragments of the meteorite have already been found in Koblenz's Güls district, which will allow researchers to determine where the meteorite came from. Although damage to multiple houses has been reported by German media, no one has been injured in the incident. The largest discovered fragment reportedly pierced a hole the size of a soccer ball into one of the roofs.