Texas woman stunned as meteorite crashes through her roof after loud boom heard over Houston

HOUSTON, TEXAS: A Texas woman, Sherrie James, was shocked after a meteorite crashed through her home, damaging her roof and ceiling, on March 21. Eyewitnesses across the area reported hearing a loud boom and spotting a bright flash in the sky.

Additionally, officials and NASA later confirmed that a large meteor broke apart over the region, sending fragments to the ground, including one that struck her house.

Sherrie James discovers heavy rock crashed into her home

Sherrie James found that a heavy rock had crashed through the roof and two floors of her home in northwest Harris County on Saturday, March 21. 

The incident happened after people in the area reported hearing a loud explosion-like sound and seeing what looked like a meteor in the sky near Highway 50 and Wiedeville Road, according to the Brenham Fire Department.

James said she immediately thought the rock was a meteor because it was very heavy and didn’t look like a normal stone. 

"[When] I saw the rock … the first thing that came to my mind was, it's a meteor. It's very heavy and it doesn't look like cement or like a normal rock, but it's just the weight of it — you can tell it's something different. I saw a hole in the ceiling, the impact on the floor, and so it had to be coming down with force to come through the roof,” James told Fox 26 Houston.

She said she called the Ponderosa Fire Department, who at first thought the rock might have fallen “off a plane.” Later, they told her it was most likely a fragment from a meteor that had exploded over northern Houston.

James set up a GoFundMe to cover the damage caused by the meteor. She wrote, “I'm Sherrie and today I had a visitor from out of SPACE. There was a confirmed meteor explosion over N. Houston, Texas today and a piece of meteorite came through my roof. No one was hurt, thank goodness, but my roof, floor, and ceiling were damaged. I appreciate any help with the cost of damages."

At the time of writing, she has raised $245 of her $1,600 goal.

Officials weigh in on the loud booms before the meteorite crashed into James’ home

Ponderosa Fire Chief Fred Windisch said a rock that “appears to be a meteorite” crashed through James’ house and landed in the kitchen, according to Fox 26 Houston. The Ponderosa Fire Department confirmed to PEOPLE that a piece of what looked like a meteorite hit her home and said the loud “explosion” sound was likely a shock wave from the meteor breaking the sound barrier.

NASA confirmed that a 3-foot meteor fragment struck northwestern Houston on Saturday, March 21. On X, NASA wrote that eyewitnesses saw a bright fireball at 4:40 pm CDT. The meteor became visible 49 miles above Stagecoach, moved southeast at 35,000 mph, and broke apart 29 miles above Bammel, near Cypress Station.

The meteor, which weighed about a ton, created a pressure wave that caused the loud booms heard in the area. Meteorite fragments were also found between Willowbrook and Northgate Crossing.

The Brenham Fire Department responded to multiple reports of a green flash, black smoke, and a loud boom. They found no evidence of an explosion. Video from KHOU, captured by a driver in Southeast Texas, shows an object falling from the sky and bursting into a bright flash of light.