PONDEROSA FOREST METEORITE EVENT
Published March 23, 2026
This weekend in Houston was very eventful thanks to a meteorite on fire which crashed into the home of Sherrie James. She owns a home in Ponderosa Forest, a Texas neighbohood north of Houston, where a space rock traveling 35,000 mph came barreling down. When asked about the event, Sherrie said "I'm just feeling overwhelmed right now". She was excited but also feeling a whirlwind of other emotions and was thankful that nobody got hurt.
Sherrie showed me the meteorite which had gone through her roof, and landed in her bedroom. It hit the floor at such a high speed, that it busted the flooring up, and then bounced back up to the ceiling causing more damage, before falling onto her bed with a thud and sheetrock dust. As she told me details of this meteorite event, I realized just how lucky she is to be alive.
Sherrie lives in the old and quiet community of Ponderosa Forest. It's a well established neighborhood off of busy streets like Kuykendahl and Ella. Just down the road from her home is this beautiful walking park, where people were enjoying being outdoors on this day. Most were completely unaware that a rock from outer space had just violently crashed a few feet away from them.
At the community park however, there were no families hanging out or children enjoying the attractions. Maybe local parents had received information about the intergalactic dangers of being outdoors, and decided to keep their children inside for the weekend, or maybe they were sleeping in.
Back at the home of the meteorite crash, Sherrie showed me the damage the space rock had sustained on entry. There were scratch marks and dings. I'm sure that won't deter would be buyers, based on the enthusiastic conversations I had with space rock hunters. You could feel their bottled energy just talking about the rock. One in particular told me he'd seen space rocks in South America and Africa and now the United States.
Sherri's roof looked fairly new so it's a shame that a rock would not have any qualms about punching a hole through it. Miraculously, not a single person was injured. Sherrie said her daughter and grandson were also there. They were shaken by the event but were calmed down a bit once authorities gave them the rock into a plastic bag and confirmed it was a rare meteorite.
Nothing else on the home appeared damaged. Sherrie told me they were looking around the basement near the hole to see if they can find any more space rocks. Her grandson had climbed up there in search of more. So far they've not been able to locate any additional rocks from other planets.
For a while, Sherrie remained on the second floor with her window open, watching all the response and answering some questions. She eventually decided to come down and talk. She described what happened and said she was learning about the subjects of meteorites. For example, details like the burnt outer crust were explained to her.
Nasa and Rice University Science Department Faculty arrived to visit the home where the meteorite landed at such a high speed. They discussed in technical terms some of the nuances of the event, and seemed to have had a previous working relationship with each on their joint interest in meteoroids. One attempt they made to contact Sherrie had failed as she did not answer the door. After sharing some notes, they at some point agreed that there may be more evidence of meteorites at a nearby golf course. They then followed one another to the nearby golf course to find more clues.
I saw the next door neighbor in his garage with the door open so I asked him to answer a few questions. The man who had a strong French accent came down and answered all of my questions with enthusiasm. He had not known of the meteorite crash that had happened feet away from him and his family. When I explained it to him, he was shocked. He told me had hadn't heard the sonic boom and shared some additional stories with me. I instructed him to search his property for additional meteorites and he went off to look in the front yard, back yard, and on the roof. He could be one lucky man if he finds a space rock in his garden.
The home of the lost meteoroid was buzzing with media ever since the moment the fire department received confirmation the rock was in fact from outer space. This story attracted reporters from all over and they each hurried to get their scoop. This media reporter hurried into the home where she had apparently made an appointment with Sherrie James to interview her. I later asked Sherri who she was with, and she said "NBC or CBS or something. One of them". Sherrie then stopped her visits with others briefly to answer this lady's questions. She later came back outside during the interview, looking for the faculty member from Rice University. Perhaps the reporter considered getting some information from an expert about the rock from out of this world.
Sherrie James explained how the whole thing happened, and pointed to where the meteorite came down at such speed. As she explained details of it flying through her attic, I was surprised by the story and how nobody had been hurt by this very heavy rock. They were still looking for more pieces and she confirmed people wanted to buy it from her. She said she would be in no rush to sell it, and I even witnessed her turn away a buyer who gave her his card and left possibly temporarily foiled.
The lucky meteorite owner explained her surprise at the whole thing, but she seemed to understand it was a meteorite before most other people. Many people doubted at first that this was anything more than a construction material or airplane part. Afterall, it's not everyday you hear about a meteorite landing in a house. Experts confirmed it was indeed a space rock and were very interested in obtaining a sample. Sherrie maintained a smile and calmly answered questions about her rock. I could see that she already cherished it and it almost seemed like she was ready to put a "Not for Sale" sign on it, as she stood talking about it. The man to the right of Sherrie James is a professional meteorite hunter and explained he has traveled the world in search of such an amazing find.
The owner Sherrie James explained to me how parts of the ceiling were stuck to the space rock from where it came through intensely. I marveled at the melted sheetrock. This rock was burning at an extremey high temperature when that happened.
Then Sherrie showed me the burnt crust of her new found meteorite. The rock had long straight scratches on it, which indicate the speed and force at which impact happened. This is a very hard substance and it's not easy to create those marks. The dings and scuffs on it only added more character to this treasure.
In this meteorite closeup, you can see some of the hairline fractures where the rock almost further broke into pieces. The inside seemed like granular substance all forced together as tightly as possible. There was another dark mark on the corner which may be from roofing materials or flooring materials, happening on impact.
On this side of the meteorite which is scorched from when it was on fire, you can see the burnt crust over a rock indentation. These type of indentations are one of the ways experts confirm it's a space rock. The burnt crust is another indicator it's real.
Sherrie James holds the meteorite and displays the core of the rock. It was a gray sand like material which all appeared compressed together as tightly as possible. Here, you see just how thin the burnt crust layer is. It was very heavy for a relatively small object, estimated to weigh atleast five pounds.
In this photo, you can see the core grooves, and have a closer look at the ceiling material which is stuck to the outside of the meteorite. Based on what I saw from inches away, I would estimate the height of the space rock to be about four inches. You can see that the core is not smooth but has many jagged edges with pits and grooves.
This is a good view of the burnt outer crust, which I estimate to be almost a half a mm wide. It looks like you could scratch it off, but it is extremly permanent under normal conditions. It's just a very solid heavy rock. If I think about the most heavy and hard rock that I've found out in nature, this rock seemed atleast twice as solid and heavy inch for inch.
Sherrie James' home is nestled in the Ponderosa Forest Community, and many of the homes were built in the early 1970s. It's a sprawling neighborhood which boasts nearly 1300 homes. The neighborhood is full of lush landscaping and very large oak trees. The average home is large and valued at $285k. This is the neigbhorhood where Space itself decided to drop a meteoroid. However, it happened another time recently as reported in Ohio about one week prior. This rare double occurence is historic.
Article by Timothy Courtney
