“An object from space? “: a mystery in Strasbourg, where a car’s roof broke through

Early on Monday morning, Strasbourg firefighters were called to intervene in the process of “exhaling smoke from a car” parked in a peripheral area of ​​the Alsatian city. A car was found at the scene… with a hole 50 cm in diameter on the roof. How could this happen? Intrigued authorities are wondering about the possibility of a meteorite falling.

“After recognizing the first command, we suspect the fall of a stellar body,” writes Sdis du Bas-Rhin in its intervention report published at noon.

“Upon arrival, we noticed a relatively large impact with a diameter of about 50 cm, which went through the roof, underbody and tank of the vehicle,” fire captain Mathieu Colober told AFP. TF1 managed to capture the impressive hole left by an unidentified element.

But “no object was found,” the captain continued. “Either the object was so small that it could not be found, or the impact was such that the object disintegrated and turned into dust,” he put forward as a hypothesis.

“Suspicion of a Piece of Gravel”

The meteorite can be identified “by the broken shape of the object” and charred appearance, Fripon/Vigi-Ciel details the location. But also the “smoothness of its surface” and the “frequent presence of metal”, which can rust and stain the stone brown. They are rarely seen because the vast majority of asteroids completely disintegrate upon entering our atmosphere, leaving no debris behind.

“We still have suspicions about the gravel, about two centimeters wide, found at the site,” said Mathieu Colobert. This gravel was handed over to the police for further analysis to determine its nature. “It’s the size of a hazelnut, it looks like burnt wood, it’s very light,” a police spokesman told AFP. He said that the object was going to be sent to Paris to the scientific police service. At this time, studies have concluded that there is no radioactivity.

“Did the object come from space?” That’s the whole question,” said the policeman. “Even a ball thrown at very high speed downhill can cause damage. But we have yet to prove that this is an object that came from space. »