Man narrowly avoids disaster as 'one-in-a-billion' meteorite smashes into windscreen while driving brand new Tesla
You never forget the day you collect your brand new car. But for this bloke, the drive home was more memorable than the actual pickup.
That's because Dr Andrew Melville-Smith narrowly avoided a deadly disaster when what is believed to be a 'one-in-a-billion' meteorite smashed into his windscreen.
The vet, from the Australian city of Whyalla, has told how his new Tesla was blasted by a 'really violent explosion' as he travelled down the Augusta Highway.
He had just got the keys to his new set of wheels on the evening of 19 October when chaos erupted, leaving him covered in blood and glass fragments.
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Experts suspect that the object which smashed into Dr Melville-Smith's windscreen may have been a meteorite - and the moving vehicle's run-in with the space rock could be a world first.
The driver told ABC: "A lot of people go, 'No way'. But offer another explanation - what else melts your windscreen? I think I'd have more luck buying a lottery ticket because it is so rare."
He recalled how a 'loud' and 'violent' bang erupted as he drove his Tesla home alongside his wife Jo, who terrifyingly 'thought the car was on fire'.
"A truck went past - five to 10 seconds later, there was an enormous explosion," Dr Melville-Smith said. "Glass went flying inside the car, there was white smoke everywhere, and we could smell burning.
"I thought we'd crashed, it was that loud, it was that violent, it was totally unexpected."
The vet explained that his electric car was set to self-drive mode, so it did not stop moving when it was struck and 'wasn't aware of the chaos that was going on in the cabin' - but he believes this stopped him veering 'off the road'.
He initially thought he might have 'crashed' his new car but rhe ealised something more curious was afoot when he pulled over.
Dr Melville-Smith said his windscreen was warm to the touch, while a crater-like dent had done some significant damage to it - and it even melted part of the glass.
'Never seen anything like it'
Speaking about the 'really scary' incident to 9News, he said: "It was a calm night. There's no rain, no lightning. We looked at all the footage [that the Tesla's cameras recorded], and we couldn't see a darn thing.
"It's just black. There's nothing to see. There's no flash, nothing. It was so fast wasn't even captured on the cameras."
He believes a meteorite smashing into his car is 'the only' explanation for the incident, adding: "The next day, we took it to a windscreen place and they said they've never seen anything like it."
Dr Melville-Smith and his wife were left with minor cuts and were both pretty startled, but apart from that, they escaped unscathed.
The vet decided to get in touch with the South Australia Museum, which handles all reports of meteorite crashes in the area, in a bid to confirm his suspicions.
And although the experts weren't completely on board with Dr Melville-Smith's hypothesis at first, boffins said they now also believe a meteorite strike might have been responsible for the damage to his new Tesla.
The Minerals and Meteorites Collection Manager at the museum, Dr Kieran Meaney, said he thought there was 'no way this is going to be the real deal' at first.
He explained: "We get a lot of meteorite inquiries at the museum and most of the time they turn out to be a rock from earth that is doing a very good impersonation of a meteorite.
"Then, once I looked at all the details...the glass of his windscreen seems to have melted a little bit, and the acrylic layers in the glass have discolouration, almost like they've been burnt.
"It was certainly hit by something, and it was something hot, and we don't have another good explanation for what else it could have been."
The museum, which said it had been unable to find any records of a similar incident taking place before, have now taken the windscreen away for analysis.
The Director of Collections and Research, Adam Moriarty, said boffins will now try and get to the bottom of whether a meteorite was to blame.
"Other possibilities include road debris kicked up by passing vehicles, and even falling satellite debris," he said. "It should be remembered that the chances of a meteorite strike on a moving vehicle are extremely remote, but the museum is keen to keep an open mind."
If the museum's probe finds that it was a meteorite, experts will organise efforts to try and locate it.
"Whatever it was, it was travelling really fast and was really hot,” Dr Melville-Smith said. "I’ve had a few rocks hit the windscreen in the past but they were nothing like this. So far, nobody’s come up with another plausible explanation."
Olivia Burke