Many in Canada were recently treated to a fireball lighting the night sky above a lake. The sight turned spectacular against the backdrop of a soaring mountain in British Columbia province. For a woman, however, it was nightmarish. As she slept through the quiet night in her home, a meteorite pierced through the roof and landed just next to her. The sound of the crash woke her up and she felt the sensation of the debris on her face. Confused, she looked around the house and found a rock neatly sitting on her pillow.
The woman avoided death by inches. “I just jumped up and turned on the light, I couldn't figure out what the heck had happened,” Ruth Hamilton told Victoria News.
After seeing the rock on her pillow, where she usually lays her head, she gathered herself and called the emergency helpline, 911. Just a few kilometres east, near Lake Louise, a glacial lake and tourist hotspot, people had enjoyed the meteorite crashing down the sky into a fireball. The incident happened on October 4.
A police officer arrived at Ms Hamilton's house and investigated the possible reasons for the rock to land there. There was construction going on a nearby canyon project. But the officer found no evidence that the rock came from there and landed at the house as a result of a blast. The only feasible explanation the officer found was that a meteorite had made its way through Ms Hamilton's roof, reported the news website.
“I was shaking and scared when it happened, I thought someone had jumped in or it was a gun or something. It's almost a relief when we realized it could only have fallen out of the sky,” she added.
"I was in shock and I just sat here for a few hours shaking," Ms Hamilton told Toronto Star. "The odds of that happening are so small so I'm pretty grateful to be alive."
Ms Hamilton said she plans to keep the rock as her grandchildren think it's pretty cool. She also says that the harrowing experience has given her a new perspective on life – it is precious and she does not want to take it for “granted again”.
The insurance company will see if the damage to her home can be covered, she said, adding the company has never faced any claim like this before.
