A doorbell camera in Canada captured the sound, never heard before, of a meteorite landing on Earth. The camera belonged to a couple who narrowly missed being hit by the meteorite, which crashed just minutes after they left for an afternoon walk. The footage marks a historic first in the field of meteoritics. However, what has caught the public’s attention is the reports that animals in the area reacted to the sound before the meteorite hit the ground.
Meteorites on Earth
Meteorites, fragments of asteroids or comets that survive entering the Earth’s atmosphere, are not uncommon–roughly 48.5 tons of space material falls to Earth daily. However, the capture of the meteorite’s sound as it crashed on Joe Velaidum and Laura Kelly’s driveway is incredibly rare. Most meteorites are small and burn up entirely in the atmosphere, but those that do land are often unheard of due to the hustle and bustle of 21st-century life.
The Unlikely Eyewitness
In July 2024, Joe Velaidum and Laura Kelly left their home to walk their dogs minutes before their doorbell camera, equipped with audio recording capabilities, captured the falling meteorite. This is another example of how the seemingly ordinary security measure of installing doorbell cameras has resulted in extraordinary discoveries.
The Boom Heard ‘Round the Neighborhood
In the doorbell camera footage a short, sharp “boom,” can be distinctly heard, separate from the everyday noises in the audio recording. The impact produced a star-shaped splatter of dust and rock on the walkway, but the sound was heard by the whole neighborhood. Currently, Dr. Chris Herd, a professor of Earth and atmospheric sciences at the University of Alberta in Canada, is studying video and audio recordings to analyze them to understand rock speed and physical properties.
Analyzing the Impact Site
While the sound recording is groundbreaking, the real treasure lies in finding the meteorite. Velaidum, a researcher himself, was initially dismissive of what had fallen on his driveway, but Kelly’s father persuaded them to collect the debris. They collected a three-ounce sample identified as “ordinary chondrite”. While the rock itself is considered ordinary, its origins are not. Herd stated that chondrite rocks come from “broken pieces off of asteroids in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.”
Animals Sensing the Unseen
As most pet owners know, domestic animals have keen senses and will often react to oncoming weather changes and other sights and sounds before we know it’s happening. The meteorite’s fall, dubbed the Charlottetown meteorite, was no exception. Anecdotal evidence suggests that animals near the impact may have reacted before the doorbell camera recorded the sound.
Subsonic Signals and Seismic Whispers
Animals’ potential early reaction to the Charlottetown meteorite impact may be attributed to their sensitivity to signals beyond human perception. Animals can detect a broader range of frequencies and are more perceptive to subtle changes in vibration. The meteorite might have generated subsonic sounds or seismic vibrations imperceptible to humans but easily detectable by animals.
Animal Pre-Cognition: Further Research Needed
Naturally, the anecdotal evidence that animals could react to meteorite impacts before they happen requires further investigation. Whether they react to potential infrasound, seismic activity, or shifts in the environment, or if it’s just their ability to hear more than humans, more evidence is needed to understand how and why animals react to events before humans know they are happening.
Listening to the Skies
This event strongly supports what is known as “citizen science” in astronomical and other fields of research. As more households install doorbell cameras and other recording devices, ordinary citizens have begun contributing valuable data to scientists studying meteors and meteorites. Doorbell footage sets a new precedent as scientists can learn more about otherwise fleeting moments that have previously been missed or undocumented.
A New Era of Meteoritics
“No other meteorite fall has been documented like this, complete with sound,” said Herd. With this new audio recording of a meteorite hitting Earth, new avenues of research are opening up. Scientists can now study how meteorites behave as they descend and crash after entering the Earth’s atmosphere. These studies will likely look at space rocks’ size, speed, and properties.
Future Implications
This event highlights the importance of continuous monitoring and data collection. According to Herd, the University of Alberta’s online meteorite reporting system gets roughly 10 reports weekly, however only .1% of them turn out to be actual meteorites. With the surprising addition of doorbell cameras as a source for research, scientists can use traditional methods combined with technological advancements to learn more about how Earth interacts with the Solar System.
A Shared Human Experience
Velaidum took the words out of our mouths when he said: “We think our lives are so important when we fill it up with our egos, and there are these cosmic events that just dwarf our little concerns… And this is a tiny little event when it comes down to it in the cosmic scheme of things, but it’s such an eye-opener.”
A Call to Observe
As we go about our lives, it is easy to forget the bigger picture, but as citizens contribute more to scientific research, we become humbled by our shared experience on this earth. As cosmic events occur all the time, with millions of asteroids flying towards our planet daily, it would do us some good to look up occasionally and hope to see something as life-changing as the descent of a meteorite.
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