Meteorite crashes through roof in Connecticut, scientist says

Yale Peabody Museum mineralogist Stefan Nicolescu evaluating the magnetic field of a meteorite that fell on a house in Wolcott, Conn. He is holding the portion of the meteorite (which broke in two upon impact) that was brought to the Peabody. (Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History)

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A Yale scientist says a rock that crashed through the roof of a home in Wolcott was a meteorite.

Police say resident Larry Bech called them Saturday morning to report that his home had been damaged by a falling rock the night before.

Authorities suspected the object was a piece of runway from a nearby airport.

But Stefan Nicolescu, the collections manager for the Mineralogy Division at the Yale Peabody Museum, examined the rock and tells WVIT-TV it is a meteorite.

Nicolescu says the meteorite likely comes from the Lyrids meteor shower, which happens every year at this time when Earth crosses the orbit of comet Thatcher.