Police receive calls regarding possible meteorite landing

THUNDER BAY -- City police responded to a call Wednesday night regarding a possible meteorite landing on Highway 61.

Patrol officers were dispatched to Mount Forest Boulevard around 11 p.m. to investigate reports of a loud explosion that shook houses in the area.

Officers searched the area travelling northbound on Highway 61 and observed a large round hole in the snow on the side of the road.

Police, in a release issued Thursday, say in the centre of the hole was a pile of what appeared to be a rock-like substance.

The area was checked and no footprints or vehicle tracks were found.

The Thunder Bay Police Service has been in contact with Lakehead University and a professor from the geology department will examine the area.

The evidence was removed from where it landed and Lakehead University officials are hoping the evidence could be brought to the university for further investigation.

It is believed this was a meteor from the Geminid Meteor shower, which peaked late Wednesday night until early Thursday morning.