MEDINA, Ohio — Treasure hunters are spreading across Ohio communities this week, searching for pieces of a massive 7-ton space rock that exploded over Earth after creating a spectacular light show visible from hundreds of miles away.
The space object disintegrated around 9 a.m. Tuesday above Valley City, located about 30 minutes south of Cleveland, traveling at approximately 45,000 miles per hour through Earth’s atmosphere. The explosion created powerful sound waves that shook buildings and alarmed residents who feared something had exploded nearby. The brilliant fireball was spotted from Wisconsin all the way to Maryland, with NASA verifying the meteoroid measured nearly 6 feet across.
One Medina resident, December Harris, didn’t need to search far — her cousin and housemate, Ambra Sinclair, discovered a small dark rock they believe came from space while heading to work. The pair had heard the thunderous boom Tuesday morning but assumed it came from aircraft activity at a local airport.
Harris explained that her roommate discovered the rock late Wednesday morning in a 4-foot space between their garage and home. She characterized it as triangular in shape, measuring under 2 inches across and described it as “very, very black,” featuring surface pits, grooves and an exterior with a melted appearance.
Space rocks travel at extremely high velocities when they suddenly encounter Earth’s atmospheric gases, creating enormous pressure as they compress the air ahead of them. This process heats the rock, causing it to melt and fragment.
The dark rock was clearly out of place at Harris’ property.
“I’ve got a cleaned-off driveway,” explained Harris, a 70-year-old retired business owner. “There’s nothing like this around.”
Having heard advice about not handling meteorites directly, they used a napkin to collect it and stored it in a jar. Harris is now seeking ways to verify its authenticity — though NASA’s phone line went unanswered despite seven attempts.
“To us, me and my cousin, we have a strong faith in God,” Harris explained. “We’re like, ‘God just dropped it out of heaven.’”
When meteorite collector and dealer Roberto Vargas learned about the meteor sightings, he immediately began a multi-hour drive from his Bristol, Connecticut home to Ohio.
He traveled through the night and began his hunt shortly after Wednesday’s sunrise. Although it took until nearly sunset, he eventually discovered a suspected meteorite. By Thursday noon, he had located a second fragment, which he described as “100% fusion crusted,” calling it a museum-quality specimen he intends to keep.
The discovery inspired the 40-year-old former mental health therapist to speak enthusiastically about the event.
“It was a massive event — the shock waves, the sonic booms,” he explained during a phone interview while taking a break from searching. “This is a beauty of a fall.”
Throughout nearly ten years of collecting, Vargas had discovered only about 20 meteorites in natural settings. He joins other hunters who theorize that a much larger fragment might still be out there — possibly weighing 20 pounds or more.
Vargas noted that several factors will determine how long he continues searching in the region.
“It depends on how many stones are found,” he said. “Do they continue to be found? And what the situation is like with huntable ground. There’s a lot of private property around here.”
Gabe Leidy initially thought something had struck his North Ridgeville home when he heard the explosion, then began searching for fragments after finishing work Wednesday afternoon.
The 39-year-old supply chain management professional went to the Sharon Center vicinity, reasoning that a dark space rock would be easily spotted. That’s where he found “something that looks very, very, very much like a meteorite.”
Although some people have already offered him hundreds or thousands of dollars for his find, Leidy prefers to keep it. Currently stored in a kitchen cabinet, he envisions it eventually being displayed in a museum.
“My goal here was just to find a memento that I can remember this probably once-in-a-lifetime event by,” he said.
