Ball of ice from the sky crashes through roof of California home

Aug. 31 (UPI) -- A large chunk of ice crashed through the roof of a California couple's home and they said authorities have thus far not been able to tell them where it came from.

Jon LeClair said he was working outside near his truck about 10:30 p.m. Aug. 8 when the ice chunk crashed through the roof of his Big Bear house and landed in the attic.

"It was almost like a sonic boom. It was huge," he told KABC-TV. "My wife came out and she thinks somebody's breaking into the house. I said I don't think so; it was like a cannon shot."

LeClair and his wife, Renae, soon discovered there was a 24-inch diameter hole in their roof and a bowling ball-sized piece of ice in their attic.

LeClair said he initially suspected it was a piece of a meteorite, but he now suspects it may have fallen from a plane.

"I'm thinking plane, but it's so warm, how can that happen? I know it's 40,000 feet up, but we're pretty warm down here. I don't know," he said.

The couple said they haven't been able to reach the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board said the ice chunk does not fall under their purview.

"I filed a report with the sheriff's department and they're just scratching their heads," LeClair said.

Ice balls that fall from airplanes are known as megacryometeors and have been known to impact the ground several times a year. A suspected megacryometeor left a sizable dent in a green at the Belvoir Park Golf Club in Victoria, Australia, on Aug. 15.