By Tim Binnall
A home security system in Canada captured what scientists say is the first-ever footage featuring both the sight and sound of a meteorite strike. The remarkable moment, which reportedly occurred last summer and came to light this week, was filmed outside the home of Joe Velaidum, who lives in the community of Marshfield, Prince Edward Island. Discovering an unusual blast mark on his front walkway and odd debris in the yard, the puzzled man checked his security system to see what caused the curious mess. To Velaidum's surprise, the footage offered a brief glimpse of what appeared to be a small rock plummeting from the sky and smashing into the stone path.
When a friend later suggested that the object in the video was a meteorite, Velaidum gathered some pieces of the mysterious rock and sent them to the University of Alberta's Meteorite Reporting System. Upon examining the fragments, curator Chris Herd confirmed the off-world origin of the rock. Noting that the object was the first of its kind found in the province of Prince Edward Island, he marveled that the video of the strike is also historic as "no other meteorite fall has been documented like this, complete with sound." For his part, homeowner Velaidum is thankful to have just been a virtual witness to the event as he had been standing in the same spot as the strike just moments earlier before heading out for a walk, and "it probably would've ripped me in half."