Overview
- Dr. Andrew Melville-Smith’s Tesla was hit on October 19 on the Augusta Highway near Port Germein, shattering and partially melting the windscreen and causing minor cuts from glass.
- The vehicle was reportedly in Autopilot and continued driving without detecting the impact, according to the driver’s account to ABC News.
- South Australian Police ruled out a bullet or debris kicked up by a truck after initial checks, narrowing the focus to other origins.
- Museum mineralogists report heat damage consistent with a very hot impact, while several independent scientists question a meteorite origin due to the lack of a widely observed fireball and the fact meteorites are typically cold on landing.
- The museum is examining the glass for embedded material in tests that could take weeks or months, and a site search may follow if extraterrestrial fragments are identified, which could make the case a rare first for a moving vehicle.