On October 9, 1992, a meteorite the size of a bowling ball crashed into a parked Chevy Malibu in Peekskill, New York. The incident was witnessed by thousands along the U.S. East Coast as the meteor blazed through the skies over Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania before landing.
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Eighteen-year-old Michelle Knapp heard what she thought was a car crash outside her home. Upon investigation, she discovered a hole in the trunk of her car, with a smoking meteorite underneath. Knapp had recently purchased the car for $300 and sold it for $10,000 after the meteorite struck.
The meteor was visible as a "fragmenting fireball" at approximately 7:50 p.m. EDT, according to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. Weighing 12.37 kilograms, it crashed into the right rear edge of Knapp's 1980 Chevrolet Malibu, leaving a dent in the driveway below. The meteorite's fall generated significant interest, due in part to the extensive video and photo documentation of its descent. Video cameras that were aimed at Friday night high school football games captured the event, enabling scientists to track the meteor's flight path to Earth.
It crashed into the car at a speed of about 179 mph. The university noted that this was only the fourth meteorite for which detailed trajectory data exists. A slice of the Peekskill meteorite sold for $4,375 at a Christies auction in 2021, and a large piece is currently displayed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Knapp's car has its own website and is occasionally exhibited.