If you think your week was weird, imagine sitting in your living room when a rock older than the planet crashes through your roof. That’s exactly what happened to a man in McDonough, Georgia, in June—and now scientists say the space rock that tore through his HVAC system is at least a few hundred million years older than Earth itself.
The McDonough Meteorite, officially named by University of Georgia researchers, formed around 4.56 billion years ago, according to planetary geologist Scott Harris. For context, Earth is about 4.5 billion years old.
“This particular meteor…has a long history before it made it to the ground,” Harris told UGA News, explaining that it originated from a group of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter, likely the result of a colossal breakup 470 million years ago…