A St Ives couple believe they may have had a brush with the extra terrestrial after a piece of rock crashed through their conservatory roof.

The Hunts Post: A piece of outer space rock smashed through the conservatory of Sidney Toomes, from St Ives,A piece of outer space rock smashed through the conservatory of Sidney Toomes, from St Ives, (Image: Archant)

Sidney and Pauline Toomes, of Lancaster Drive, were at home preparing breakfast on November 2 when they heard a loud bang coming from their conservatory, shortly before 8.30am.

When they went to investigate, the discovered a piece of perspex on a chair and a “smooth grey pellet” measuring little more than an inch in length, which had punched a circular hole in the roof of their conservatory.

The roof is made of three layers of perspex and Sidney, 83, says the material is strong enough for someone to walk on.

He said: “I was getting ready for breakfast when I heard a loud bang, I didn’t take much notice at first until my wife asked what the noise was.

“When we went through to the conservatory we found a piece of glass on a chair and a light grey pellet on the floor. It looked like a piece of concrete but it was very light.

“We have had the insurance assessors out and they have no idea what it is, but they think it is probably extra terrestrial because of the force it would have needed to punch a hole through the roof.”

And, when Mr Toomes left the house later that day, he discovered a second, smaller piece of light grey rock in his garden, which he suspects may be related to the piece that fell in his conservatory.

Mr Toomes said he has contacted several local groups in a bid to find out if the objects did in fact come from space, but has so far had no response.

According to NASA, about 100 tonnes of meteorites – including everything from gravel through to large rocks - enter the Earth’s atmosphere every day.

CAN YOU IDENTIFY THE MYSTERY OBJECT? Contact daniel.mansfield@archant.co.uk or call 01480 411481.