“It landed right between my legs, where I [had been standing].”
That’s never a comfortable sentence to say out loud. But when the “it” in question is a meteorite traveling at 100 to 200 meters per second, it’s doubly uncomfortable.
That’s exactly what happened to Prince Edward Island resident Joe Velaidum in July 2024. Velaidum and partner Laura Kelly took their dogs on a walk, and when they returned, they noticed a strange pile of debris on the walkway outside their home. A glance at their security system revealed something amazing — video (complete with sound) of a meteorite landing just outside their front door.
“It sounded like a loud, crashing, gunshot bang,” Velaidum told CTV news earlier this week. Velaidum had been standing in that exact spot, bending over to pick up his dog’s leash, two minutes earlier.
Check out the vid for yourself:
The couple submitted the footage to the University of Alberta’s meteorite reporting system. Two weeks later, Chris Herd, the University of Alberta’s meteorite collection curator, was knocking on the door. Herd had been planning a family vacation on the island, so the meteorite strike was a unique chance to mix business and pleasure.
“My wife and I went over; we actually took our son and his girlfriend to help,” Herd noted. “We used a kitchen scale [to measure the sample) and documented everything…The whole thing was really cool.”
A unique event
Although meteorites hit the ground all the time, this is the first time a video has caught the actual moment of impact, including the sound. The space rock is also the first meteorite strike recorded on Prince Edward Island.
And while Velaidum is happy scientists will be able to learn from the footage and the sample, he’s mostly just relieved he doesn’t have a meteorite-shaped hole in his torso.
“I have been thinking about it a lot because, you know, when you have a near-death experience, it kind of shocks you,” he said.
