A meteorite that struck a house in the Quirino province of the Cagayan Valley region has been registered as the seventh Philippine meteorite in the Meteoritical Bulletin Database, a global database of meteorites.
Named Ponggo, after the barangay in the town of Nagtipunan where the meteorite landed, the 2.4-kilogram meteorite struck the house on May 20 at 4pm.
The stone smashed through two layers of roof and hit a potted plant before creating a palm-sized dent in the house’s concrete floor, the database entry reads.
People within the vicinity reportedly heard three sonic booms shortly after the impact, although no smoke trail was observed. The fragments were collected with a magnet.
Filipino meteorite collectors Christian Cruz, Ramon Santiago, David Joshua Magno, and Allen Yu were able to obtain the fragments and identify their properties.
In a social media post, Cruz described the registration as a “cosmic and historic journey.”
“This is the first well-documented Philippine meteorite hammer fall, which fell on May 20, 2022 and violently struck man-made objects,” he explained.
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