Regional South Australian man believes meteorite smashed into car windscreen

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A man in regional South Australia has had a close encounter with what he believes was a meteorite that smashed into his car windscreen. Fragments of the object will now be tested by the South Australian Museum to confirm if it did come from outer space.

Transcript

00:00Andrew Melville Smith was driving his new car on a remote highway in South Australia's mid-north when something struck his windshield.

00:10There was an enormous explosion. I mean, really, really violent.

00:15He believes it was a meteorite that plummeted to earth.

00:18It does sound a bit insane. And a lot of people go, no, no way.

00:23OK, offer another explanation. What else melts your windscreen?

00:27The object couldn't be found, so the windshield will be removed and sent to the South Australia Museum to be tested.

00:33So it is not an unusual thing for meteorites to fall to earth.

00:38Around the world, it's, you know, one a week or more.

00:42The museum says it could take weeks or months for the test results to arrive.

00:47If it is confirmed to be a meteorite, the SA Museum says it could be a world first instance of a strike on a moving car.

00:54There's a couple of cases of meteorites, you know, crashing through a garage roof and damaging cars or hitting parked cars, things like that.

01:03But nothing quite like this.

01:07As for Andrew, he's thankful the glass didn't break and is confident it won't happen again.

01:12I think I'd have more luck buying a lottery ticket.

01:14A close encounter, potentially out of this world.

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