When a meteorite smashes through your roof, you have to wonder.
Am I Covered?
After what scientists say was a meteorite smashed through a family’s roof in New Jersey, Garden State residents began wondering whether insurance covers extraterrestrial damage.
In an advice column published to NJ.com, a Jersey insurance specialist said that in the extremely unlikely case of meteorite or other space debris damage, residents who have homeowners’ or business property insurance should be covered.
“Based on the feedback from our members and other industry partners, it seems that a falling object, such as a meteor or falling satellite, would typically be covered by a standard homeowners or business property insurance policy,” Gary La Spisa, the vice president of the Insurance Council of New Jersey, told the outlet.
“Of course,” La Spisa added, “it is always critical to read your policy and familiarize yourself with any exclusions that your policy may have.”
Scientifically Speaking
While South Jersey astronomy expert Chris Bakley said that it’s very unlikely for a piece of space debris to make its way down to the tri-state area, it nevertheless did happen last week in Hopewell Township, NJ, when a chunk of what is probably a meteorite crashed through resident Suzy Kop’s roof and “ricocheted” around a blessedly-uninhabited bedroom.
Uncommon as it is, Bakley said that the apparent Hopewell Township meteorite “excites the science community” because this sort of impact makes it “easier to identify and confirm that it undeniably came from the sky.”
He added that there may be more bits of space rock “lodged and scattered in the roof and ceiling of the impacted house,” though given that the homeowner didn’t respond to NJ.com‘s request for comment, the public doesn’t yet know if more pieces have been recovered.
So there you have it, folks: if you own a house in New Jersey, you should be covered in case of falling space junk.
More on space junk: Cosmonauts Caught Littering Directly Into Space During Spacewalk