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Meteorite Smashes Through Home

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (June 13) - A grapefruit-sized meteorite smashed through the roof of a New Zealand house, hitting a couch and bouncing off the ceiling before coming to rest under a computer.

The 2.9 pound chunk of space debris dropped out of the sky and plummeted through the tiled roof of the Auckland home on Saturday.

"I was in the kitchen doing breakfast and there was this almighty explosion," owner Brenda Archer told the Sunday Star-Times newspaper.

"It was like a bomb had gone off. I couldn't see anything, there was just dust."

Archer's one-year-old grandson had been playing nearby minutes before it hit.

It is only the ninth meteorite found in New Zealand and the first to hit a home.

The Archers, who are following expert advice by drying the rock out in their oven, plan to sell it or give it to a museum.

Experts believe the meteorite, a chunk of an asteroid, could be worth more than $6,300, the newspaper said.


06-13-04 09:14 EDT