It Came from Outer Space (Literally!) and Hit My Car!

It's not often I drive at night after sunset. I get up so early, I don't even go out much on weekends. Last Saturday night was an exception, and I think the Universe was trying to get me to think better of it in the future.

An Arizona UFO Spotted on BST

I was driving down Buffalo Soldier Trail last Saturday night after visiting a friend. It was just a little past 9 pm, but I had the road to myself, except for a singular sedan up ahead. It was clear sailing, and we had the road to ourselves.

I know Sierra Vista has a reputation for rolling up the sidewalks early, but for a weekend in early summer, the road was eerily quiet. Over the last few days, Southeastern Arizona had been getting rain from the tail end of a Pacific Coast storm, but on Saturday night, the sky was dark and crystal clear.

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It Came from the SKY!

I wasn't even playing the radio. I was drafting off the experience of sharing a pleasant evening with good friends when I was pulled abruptly out of my reverie.

Crack! Out of nowhere, a rock smacked my windshield like it had a personal vendetta against my car.

I know what you're thinking: “Probably just kicked up gravel from another vehicle.” The only other car on the road was so far ahead of me that even if it had been churned out from the car's wheels, it was too far away to have met my vehicle. And it was driving in the other lane, so it made zero sense.

READ: Visit These 7 Hidden Arizona Tourist Destinations

The UFO that (Probably) Hit my Windshield

But what if I told you the thing that hit my windshield might have come from outer space??

Sounds dramatic, but not impossible. The "rock" that made contact with my car could have been a meteorite.

According to NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office, thousands of meteorites weighing about a pound or less hit Earth every year. Most go unnoticed because they land in oceans or remote forests. Arizona is prime real estate for space rocks.

Arizona’s dry deserts are a meteorite magnet. Places like Franconia and Willcox Playa have yielded hundreds of finds.

And let’s not forget the ultimate meteor...the granddaddy of them all: Meteor Crater near Winslow. The impressively large bowl-shaped depression was formed around 50,000 years ago by a 160-foot iron meteor traveling at 29,000 miles per hour.

Read More About Meteor Crater: How High School Drop Out Made a Famous Discovery in Arizona

Finding a Meteorite in Arizona

If you're lucky enough to find a meteorite in Arizona, congrats! You’ve got yourself a piece of the solar system.

Just don't go hunting in your neighbor's yard. Make sure it’s on public land (BLM is fair game), or maybe (carefully) look alongside Buffalo Soldier Trail in Sierra Vista.

Meteorites can be legally collected in a lot of places across Arizona, and some even end up in museums or private collections.

So next time a rock hits your windshield, maybe consider it a gift from the Universe. Just make sure you've got glass coverage with your vehicle insurance.