On the Trail of the Great Canadian Meteorites
Golden, BC
The town of Golden, BC became an important part of Canadian meteorite history on Oct 3, 2021. A fireball lit up the sky over the BC/Alberta border. Shortly after, a woman sleeping in her bed in Golden was awoken by her dog barking. What happened next was incredible ...
Read our interview with Ruth Hamilton ...
Ruth told us that on the evening of Oct 3 2021, she was asleep in bed. Her dog Toby (a handsome friendly 6 year old Australian Shepherd/ Golden Retriever cross) barked once, waking her up. This was at the time of a reported fireball explosion overhead. Ruth rolled over and was drifting back to sleep.
About 3 minutes later a 2.8 pound rock crashed through her roof, causing a sound like a tree coming down. The rock punctured a hole in the roof (metal with asphalt shingles underneath), then grazed and bounced off a truss and came through her bedroom ceiling.
Ruth got up, alarmed, her heart racing, and turned on the light. The time was 11:35 pm. She saw a gaping hole in her ceiling. She did not immediately see the meteorite as it had settled under her pillow. She checked her window to see if something had come through the window. She thought a tree might have fallen through her roof. After calling 911, she went back into the bedroom and found the meteorite under her pillow. It had missed her head by inches ! She was completely unharmed !
She took pictures.
A police officer, who had been alerted by the previous explosive sound of the meteor fragmenting, was in the area and came by quickly. He checked with nearby construction workers to make sure they had not been blasting. Some of them reported seeing the fireball. The policeman suspected a meteorite. After the police officer left, Ruth had trouble sleeping and made herself a cup of tea. She went to bed in a different room but took until 4 am to fall asleep.
The next few days, she did some research and notified Western University in London, Ontario, as well as the American Meteor Society to report the event.
There was no snow on the ground at the time. A team from the University of Calgary came and explored the area. The team found another fragment of the meteorite.
Snow came about 10 days later, making further hunting difficult.
Several media outlets from around the world (Canada, Germany, UK, Korea) contacted her.
Ruth says she “went from being unknown, to a rock star overnight !”
When Ruth called her insurance company and explained a meteorite had fallen through her house, they calmly said “we’ll send someone over”.
Roof patched and awaiting final repair May 8 2022.
Neil Mitchell with a section of the roof.
Taken by Art Hindmarch May 10, 2022
Used with permission.
Dave holding the Golden meteorite. Shows a fresh black fusion crust, with smoothed corners and edges.
Photos taken by Dave and Julie Kenny on May 8 2022, with kind permission from Ruth Hamilton.
Scuff marks from the impact with the roof.
The meteorite with pieces of roofing shingle stuck on from the forceful impact.
Cut showing interior of the Golden meteorite !
Used with permission, Western University
The Golden Hammer
Meteorites that land on houses, objects, people or animals are called “hammers” and are VERY rare.
( On Sept 2009 in Grimsby, Ontario, a small 46 gm piece of a meteorite was recovered that had hit a parked SUV ! )
** Nov 2022 update - this meteorite is now officially known as "Golden" !!
Shortly after the fall of the main Golden meteorite, a team from U of Calgary found a second piece.
Thanks to Dr. Alan Hildebrand for use of these photos.
.jpg)