2024年7月16日，一颗陨石以每小时32000英里的速度坠入新泽西州希尔斯伯勒镇的住宅屋顶[1]。这块重约2磅的CM1/2型碳质球粒陨石在消失于35公里高空之前，被60人目睹穿过纽约地区天空，其中16人报告感受到冲击波[1]。
国际研究团队对该陨石样本进行了深入分析，发现其保存了原始小行星表面的古代咸水流体、有机化合物和氨基酸[1]。陨石含碳量为1.8%（按重量），含氮量为0.07%（按重量）[1]。这些发现为理解小行星如何向早期地球输送生命起源物质提供了新的科学证据。研究由SETI研究所和美国宇航局艾姆斯研究中心等机构联合开展，相关成果已发表在《科学进展》期刊2026年第12卷第29期[1]。
被见证的CM1/2型陨石仅为第二例，首次记录是2020年在印度尼西亚北苏门答腊发现的Kolang陨石[1]。
A meteorite crashed through a residential roof in Hillsborough, New Jersey on July 16, 2024, traveling at approximately 32,000 miles per hour before disappearing at an altitude of 22 miles [1]. The event was witnessed by 60 people across the New York area, with 16 reporting they felt the impact shockwave [1].
The recovered meteorite, weighing over 2 pounds, has been classified as a CM1/2 carbonaceous chondrite—only the second such witnessed fall of this type ever recorded, following the Kolang meteorite that fell in North Sumatra, Indonesia in 2020 [1]. An international research team, including members from the SETI Institute and NASA's Ames Research Center, analyzed the specimen and discovered preserved evidence of ancient briny fluids, organic compounds, and amino acids trapped within the original asteroid material [1]. The meteorite contains 1.8 percent carbon and 0.07 percent nitrogen by weight [1].
The findings, published in Science Advances in Volume 12, Issue 29, 2026, suggest that meteorites like this one may have played a crucial role in delivering the chemical building blocks necessary for life to early Earth [1]. The pristine nature of this sample provides new evidence for understanding how asteroids could have transported life's precursor molecules to our planet's surface [1].