'Flaming basketball' meteorite destroys Californian farmer's home

Watch: ‘Flaming basketball’ meteorite spotted in Northern California

A “flaming basketball” meteorite has destroyed a Californian farmer's home.

Dustin Procita was at his residence in Nevada County, about 60 miles north-east of Sacramento, when “a big bang” rang out on Friday.

"I started to smell smoke, and I went on to my porch, and it was completely engulfed in flames," he told NBC affiliate KCRA. Mr Procita said it looked “like a flaming basketball”.

“They said it was a meteor,” he added. “I did not see what it was, but from everybody I talked to – [it] was a flaming ball falling from the sky [that] landed in that general area.”

Mr Procita’s home was quickly engulfed in flames that killed a dog and burned down a travel trailer and a pickup truck.

It took almost three hours for the fire to be contained.

Investigations are ongoing into whether a meteorite struck Mr Procita’s home.

“Meteorite, asteroid – one of those two,” the fire department’s captain, Josh Miller, told KCRA.

“I had one individual tell me about it first and [I said] like, OK, I’ll put that in the back of my mind. But then more people – two, three or four more – started coming in and talking about it.”