Possible meteorite smashes through New Jersey roof

NEW YORK, Jan 4 (Reuters) Authorities were investigating today if a metallic rock that smashed through the roof of a home in New Jersey was a meteorite.

The small, oblong rock, weighing 13 ounces, crashed into a home in Freehold Township, 50 miles south of New York, on Tuesday evening and was embedded in the wall on the top floor of the two-story house.

''The woman living in the home heard an unusual sound,'' said Lt Robert Brightman, of Freehold Township police, adding that the woman's son then discovered the rock in the wall of bathroom and contacted police yesterday.

''It went through two layers of shingles, a layer of plywood sheathing, the insulation, the Sheetrock ceiling, damaged the tile floor and bounced up into the Sheetrock in the side wall,'' he said.

Authorities were planning to investigate what the object was, including the possibility it could be a meteorite.

Brightman said the Federal Aviation Authority concluded that the object was not an airplane part. He said other experts were due to look at the object today but declined to name what agencies they represented.

REUTERS PB BD2208