NEVADA COUNTY, Calif — Northern California officials are looking into the possibility that a meteorite destroyed a home in Nevada County Friday night.
The house caught fire after several witnesses described a bright ball of light falling from the sky.
"I heard a big bang. I started to smell smoke and I went onto my porch and it was completely engulfed in flames,” Dustin Procita said.
Procita said people in the secluded area are multigenerational cattle farmers or ranchers.
"Wide open spaces, this was kind of a farm cattle ranch area and not much around it,” Captain Josh Miller with the Penn Valley Fire Department said.
A bright ball of light caught on video around 7:30 p.m. lit up the sky and landed in the middle of nowhere.
“They said it was a meteor. I've always watched meteor showers and stuff as a kid, but I definitely didn't look forward to them landing in my yard or through my roof,” Procita said. “I did not see what it was, but from everybody I talked to was a flaming ball falling from the sky, landed in that general area."
The Penn Valley Fire Department along with Cal Fire battled the flames for hours. They’re now investigating what started the fire.
"I had one individual tell me about it first and like, okay, I'll put that in the back of my mind. But then more people two, three or four more started coming in and talking about it,” Miller said.
As Procita and his wife pick up the pieces of what's left of their home, they know they could have lost much more and realized the odds may be in their favor.
"They say it's a one in four trillion chance, so I guess I might be buying a lottery ticket today,” he said.
NASA has one explanation: The Southern Taurids meteor showers were taking place at the time. Astronomers said this year’s shower included an increased number of fireballs that shine very night.