Man Lights Cigarette On Glowing Meteorite That Landed In His Garden

A man who discovered a a glowing meteorite in his garden in the middle of the night did what anyone else would do - and lit his cigarette on it.

David Stevenson was having a late-night fag break in his back garden when he saw the rock land by the fence.

On closer inspection he noticed smoke pouring off of it, but went back inside for the night.

The next day he realised the boulder was still red hot and, after seeing the scorched grass surrounding it, he decided to use it to light up a ciggy.

Smoking aid: The meteorite stayed red hot for 24 hours (SWNS)

Mr Stevenson, from Leeds, revealed: “I was really excited about what I’d found and was deliberately thinking about first things I could do with regard to this potential meteorite.

“One of my thoughts was to light a cigarette off it and so I did - I’m never going to be in a position to light a cigarette off a potential meteorite again.

“I felt I had to do something.”

Crash landing: David Stevenson said the rock landed in his garden in the middle of the night (SWNS)

Mr Stevenson believes the rock is an actual meteorite as it is magnetic - suggesting it comes from space.

He has sent his findings to the Natural History Museum to see if they can shed some light on its origin.

Astronomer Matt Robinson, from the Kielder Observatory Astronomical Society in Northumberland, said the rock David found is probably from “a sporadic meteorite from the asteroid belt in between Mars and Jupiter”.

He added that it is probably at least four billion years old.

Top pic: SWNS