{"id":626073,"date":"2026-10-10T04:32:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T04:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/626073\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T04:32:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T04:32:16","slug":"on-this-day-in-space-oct-9-1992-peekskill-meteorite-hits-car-in-new-york-after-streaking-through-the-atmosphere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/626073\/","title":{"rendered":"On this day in space! Oct. 9, 1992: Peekskill meteorite hits car in New York after streaking through the atmosphere"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Oct. 9, 1992, a space rock the size of a bowling ball fell out of space and crash landed on a woman’s Chevy Malibu in Peekskill, New York.<\/p>\n

Thousands of people along the U.S. East Coast witnessed the Peekskill meteorite<\/a> blazing through the skies over Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania before it hit the parked car. Eighteen-year-old Michelle Knapp was sitting at home when she thought she heard a car crash outside.<\/p>\n

When Knapp went to look, she found a hole in the trunk of her car and a smoking-hot meteorite beneath it. She had just bought the car for $300, and after it was damaged, she sold it for $10,000.<\/p>\n

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(Image credit: Wknight94\/Wikimedia Commons)Why it mattered<\/p>\n

Earth is no stranger to space rock impacts (farewell, dinosaurs), but it is pretty rare to see a meteorite fall as strange as the Peekskill meteorite car crash.<\/p>\n

The meteor that ultimately led to the Peekskill meteorite was visible from Kentucky to New York, appearing as a “fragmenting fireball” at about 7:50 p.m EDT, according to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute<\/a>. The meteorite, which weighed 12.37 kilograms, crashed through the right rear edge of the trunk of Knapp’s 1980 Chevrolet Malibu and left a dent in the driveway below.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

#OTD in 1992, the Peekskill meteorite fell just a short distance from NYC. A rock the size of a bowling ball fell from the sky onto a parked Chevy Malibu, piercing the trunk & denting the driveway beneath it. Soon after, it was found near the car, still warm & smelling of sulfur. https:\/\/t.co\/SzxaBER9omOctober 9, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n

The Peekskill meteorite fall captivated scientists and the public alike due to the high amount of film and photo coverage of its meteor descent.<\/p>\n

“Video cameras trained on Friday night high-school football games turned skyward to capture the rocketing fireball. As a result, several scientific investigations were able to track the meteorite’s flight path to Earth \u2014 including its orbit around the Sun,” University of Alaska Fairbanks officials wrote.<\/p>\n

\"Space\"<\/p>\n

Because of such a prolific amount of film coverage, which stretched from West Virginia to New York, scientists were able to calculate the meteor’s flight path before impact. It crashed into the car at a speed of about 179 mph, they said.<\/p>\n

“This is only the fourth recovered meteorite for which detailed data exist on its trajectory,” the University of Alaska Fairbanks officials wrote.<\/p>\n

A slice of the Peekskill meteorite sold for $4,375 in a Christies auction<\/a> in 2021. You can see a large piece of the meteorite <\/a>on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City today. Even Knapp’s car has its own website<\/a>, and is sometimes put on display.<\/p>\n

Want more space history? Check out our full On This Day In Space Story archive<\/a> and watch our On This Day In Space videos on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"pioneer<\/p>\n

\nOn this day in space! Oct. 8, 1992: NASA’s Pioneer Venus probe burns up in Venusian atmosphere\n<\/p>\n