A meteorite crashed through a Texas home after a fireball lit up Houston skies—learn how NASA tracked this rare impact event.
Published Mar 23, 2026 12:52 PM CDT
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Updated Mar 23, 2026 12:52 PM CDT
A massive fireball lit up the Texas sky, and part of it may have crashed straight into a home. NASA says the meteor ripped through the atmosphere at nearly 35,000 miles per hour before exploding high above the Houston area.
A bright fireball streaking across the Texas sky may have ended with a rare and dramatic impact right through the roof of a home.
NASA confirmed a meteoroid about 3 feet wide and weighing roughly a ton entered Earth’s atmosphere over southeastern Texas on Saturday. Traveling at 35,000 miles per hour, it became visible high above the region before breaking apart about 29 miles above the ground.
A bright daytime fireball seen over the Houston, Texas area on Saturday, March 21, 2026. (Image credit: Rafe Borne)
That breakup triggered a powerful pressure wave, producing loud booms heard across the Houston area, according to NASA. Dozens of reports flooded into the American Meteor Society website as residents described a bright flash followed by a rumble that shook homes.
In one of the most striking developments, a suspected meteorite fragment punched through the roof of a home north of Houston, leaving a visible hole and landing inside. Officials believe the rock is linked to the same fireball event.
“I heard this big bang, and I just thought something fell in my daughter’s room,” Sherrie James said.
A rock believed to be a meteorite after it came crashing through a Houston, Texas home on March 21, 2026 (Image credit: Sherrie Jones)
Her grandson went to investigate, finding a large hole in the ceiling and a large dent in the floor from the space rock. Thankfully, her daughter was not in the room at the time of the crash.
“It just scared me to death, and I’m like, ‘Everybody back out, get out of the room,’” James recalled, adding she called the fire department.
NASA scientists were able to track the falling debris using weather radar, which picked up signals from fragments descending through the atmosphere — a rare but valuable tool for locating meteorites on the ground.
Impact events like this are uncommon. According to NASA, meteorite falls are rare enough that only a limited number are documented each year, even though meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere frequently. Most burn up completely before reaching the ground, and many fall over oceans or unpopulated areas.
In 2021 in Golden, British Columbia, and a 66-year-old woman awoke to a meteorite in her bed after it came barreling through her ceiling.
Photos show possible fragments of a meteorite recovered in Windfall, Ohio on March 18. 2026. A large meteor was spotted in the area on March 17, 2026. (Image credit: Roberto Vargas)
The fireball in Texas comes just days after another bright meteor exploded over Ohio, highlighting a recent stretch of visible fireball activity.
Even so, scientists stress that damaging impacts remain extremely rare — making this Texas a remarkable glimpse into the powerful forces at work just above Earth’s surface.
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