An Australian man was saved by the windshield of his newly purchased Tesla after a suspected meteorite fell from space and caused a “huge explosion.”
The incident happened on the afternoon of October 19, while Dr. Andrew Melville-Smith was driving his brand-new Tesla on a highway in Whyalla, Australia.
He had just picked up the keys to the vehicle when a meteorite fell from the sky and caused a “huge explosion” on the car’s windshield, leaving him covered in blood and shards of glass.
Experts suspect that the encounter between the moving vehicle and the space rock may be a world-first event. “I think I would have better luck buying a lottery ticket, because it’s very rare to win,” the driver told ABC.
Jo, Melville-Smith’s wife, who was also in the car at the time, said she thought the car was “on fire.” “There was a huge explosion,” she said.
“Shards of glass flew into the car, there was white smoke everywhere and we could smell burning. I thought we had been in a crash, it was so loud, so violent, totally unexpected.”
The veterinarian explained that his electric car was set to autonomous driving mode, so it did not stop moving when it was hit and was not aware of the chaos happening inside the cabin, but he believes that prevented the vehicle from veering off the road.
Despite the scare, Dr. Melville-Smith and his wife are fine and sustained only minor cuts. Afterward, the veterinarian decided to contact the South Australian Museum, which handles all reports of meteorite falls in the area, in an attempt to confirm his suspicions.
And although experts did not immediately agree with Dr. Melville-Smith’s hypothesis, scientists now also believe that the impact of a meteorite may have been responsible for the damage to his new Tesla.
“Whatever it was, it was traveling very fast and was extremely hot. I’ve had a few rocks hit the windshield before, but nothing like this. So far, no one has presented another plausible explanation,” said Dr. Melville-Smith.
The museum, which stated it had not found any record of a similar incident occurring previously, collected the windshield for analysis.
“Other possibilities include road debris lifted by moving vehicles and even falling satellite debris,” said Adam Moriarty, Director of Collections and Research at the museum.
“It should be remembered that the chances of a meteorite hitting a moving vehicle are extremely remote, but the museum is willing to keep an open mind.”
If the museum’s investigation concludes that it was indeed a meteorite, experts will organize efforts to try to locate it.
Photos: South Australian Museum. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
