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Fireball Over Western Europe Scatters Meteorites in Germany, Piercing a Roof in Koblenz

ESA's Planetary Defence team is analyzing recovered samples to pinpoint the object's makeup and origin.

Overview

  • The luminous event on Sunday evening lasted about six seconds and was visible from Germany, Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
  • Authorities in Rhineland-Palatinate confirmed multiple ground impacts with isolated property damage but reported no injuries, as the struck home in Koblenz was unoccupied.
  • The International Meteor Organization logged roughly 2,800–3,000 eyewitness reports, and the AllSky7 camera network captured the fireball and aided rapid trajectory reconstruction.
  • Preliminary analyses indicate a meter-scale object, likely 1–3 meters across, entering from the southwest at about 17 km/s before fragmenting.
  • Emergency services cordoned affected sites and recovery teams collected material that is now undergoing laboratory testing to determine composition and provenance.