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frameborder=”0\u2033 allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen><\/p>\nThe European Space Agency said it is investigating a fireball that streaked across the skies of Europe on the weekend before reportedly punching a football-sized hole in the roof of a German home.<\/p>\n
The fireball, which glowed for around six seconds just before 7 pm Central European time (18:00 GMT) on Sunday, was observed by people across Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
The fireball broke up into small meteorites, some of which reportedly struck at least one house in the German town of Koblenz, the ESA said in a statement late Monday.<\/p>\n
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A meteorite punched a hole around the size of a football into the roof of a home in the city’s Guels district, according to the German public broadcaster DW.<\/p>\n
No injuries were reported.<\/p>\n
Some observers said they could hear the fireball’s roar from the ground.<\/p>\n
The ESA said its planetary defence team is analysing all the data collected about the object, which they believe was a few metres wide.<\/p>\n
Objects around this size strike Earth somewhat regularly, from once every few weeks to once every few years, the agency explained.<\/p>\n “The timing and direction of the impact indicate that the object was likely not visible to any of the large-scale telescope sky surveys that scan the night sky for such objects,” it added<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is not unusual \u2013 these kinds of objects flying in from space have only previously been spotted 11 times before entering Earth’s atmosphere, the ESA said.<\/p>\n The fireball came days after the ESA announced that a massive asteroid would not smash into the Moon<\/a> in 2032.<\/p>\n Last year, the asteroid 2024 YR4 \u2013 which is big enough to level a city \u2013 was briefly given a 3.1 percent chance of hitting Earth.<\/p>\n This was the highest odds such a giant space rock has ever been given of striking our planet.<\/p>\n Further observations ruled out any threat to Earth, but there was still a four percent chance the asteroid could collide with the Moon.<\/p>\n A direct hit would have offered astronomers an unprecedented view of such an epic smash \u2013 and could have blasted out meteors that threatened satellites around Earth.<\/p>\n![\"Graphic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Asteroid_danger_explained-642x455.jpg\")
Scientists consider a range of factors in determining whether any asteroid<\/a> poses a risk. These include the object’s trajectory, size, estimated mass, and composition, among other factors. (ESA<\/a>)<\/p>\n![\"Subscribe](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767449653_841_Generic-Health-Promo-Final-642x273.jpg\")
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