California man blames meteorite after house fire

[struggle4progress]

Edward Helmore
Mon 7 Nov 2022 09.44 EST

A northern California man has claimed that his home was destroyed by a meteorite on Friday, after several witnesses reportedly saw a ball of light descending from the sky.

“I heard a big bang. I started to smell smoke and I went on to my porch and it was completely engulfed in flames,” local rancher Dustin Procita, whose home was destroyed, told the local television news station KCRA ...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/07/california-meteor-house-destroyed

[struggle4progress]

1. NASA: Fireball seen across NorCal Friday did not touch ground

Author: Gabriel Porras
Published: 12:40 PM PST November 6, 2022
Updated: 2:04 PM PST November 6, 2022

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A fireball seen across Northern California Friday night did not touch the ground, William Cooke, manager of NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office told ABC10 Sunday.

According to Cooke the four fireballs, seen by thousands, were members of the Taurid meteor shower. He described the fireballs as relatively small and unable to produce meteorites that would have been able to touch the ground ...

NASA officials do not currently believe that any particles from any of the meteorites seen Friday touched the ground or started any fires. Cooke added that by the time most meteorites hit the ground in general, they are cold.

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/meteorite-did-not-touch-ground-according-to-nasa/103-fbbd4c26-20e1-48f6-a705-ef199bf10777

[struggle4progress]

2. California man claims meteor struck home and killed dog

The odds of being hit by a meteor - one in four trillion - are considerably less likely than the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot ... NASA and the U.S. Air Force will now be contacted as the local fire department investigates if the blaze was caused by a meteor crashing down to earth. One homeowner caught the ball of light on a Ring camera in Redding, California. The footage shows the bright fireball flash in the sky before descending to the ground in the distance. Several other people caught the fireball on camera as it fell to the earth, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Procita said he wasn't sure at first what it was, but after hearing about the fireball lighting up the night sky at the same time, he believes it was a meteor that landed right on his house.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/california-man-claims-meteor-struck-home-and-killed-dog-in-freak-event/ss-AA13PYcQ?li=BB1aQhsd#image=2

[Chainfire]

3. Space junk or space cadet, that is the question.

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4. Did meteorite start house fire?

By KTVU staff
Published November 7, 2022 6:52AM

... Josh Miller of the Penn Valley Fire Department ... said it will likely take two weeks to determine the cause of the fire ... No one suffered any injuries.

https://www.ktvu.com/news/did-a-meteorite-start-house-fire-in-northern-california

[SheilaAnn]

5. Will the insurance co. declare it an "Act of God?" n/t