Authorities in California have launched an investigation after a man's home was destroyed by a possible meteor that looked like a "flaming basketball", according to a report in NBC-affiliate KCRA. Dustin Procita was in his home in Nevada County with his two dogs when he heard a "big bang" on Friday night, the outlet further said in its report. Multiple witnesses said they saw a bright ball of light falling from the sky that destroyed the house, a travel trailer and a pickup truck.
"I heard a big bang. I started to smell smoke and I went onto my porch and it was completely engulfed in flames," Mr Procita told KCRA.
The area of Nevada County where Mr Procita lives is quiet.
"People around here are multigenerational cattle farmers or ranchers," he further told the outlet.
According to the fire department, a call was received at 7.26pm (local time) and a crew was immediately dispatched. With assistance from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, the blaze was contained almost four hours later.
A dog died in the fire, the KCRA report said.
The authorities are going through the video footage of the incident to understand if a meteor was the case behind this destruction.
"That is a potential cause, but it's too early to pinpoint one," Fire Captain Clayton Thomas told KCRA.
When Mr Pocita saw the video, he said he feels "lucky" that the fireball fell 30 feet away from him. "They say it's a one in 4 trillion chance, so I guess I might be buying a lottery ticket today," he said jokingly.
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