A Sunday morning sound from something you'd never expect.
"It happened so fast you really couldn't see anything," said homeowner Gary Wilson. "The room was filled with dust, and there was debris all over the floor. There were roof shingles in my lap."
But Wilson and his friend could see the damage. The two men believe the ice ball must have weighed at least 25 pounds before it flew through their roof and shattered into pieces, only missing Wilson by just a few feet.
"I just sat here wondering what was going on," said Wilson.
They called 9-1-1. Wilson said he was worried about the safety of the planes overhead, which ABC7 confirmed were flying in the area at the time.
"My first concern was that maybe there was an airplane that wasn't properly functioning."
The ice could have fallen from a plane, but the homeowners have another theory.
"I discovered that there is a phenomenon called megacryometeors that are formed in the upper atmosphere," said Wilson's friend, Joe. "The fact that it is clear ice and not blue ice indicates it did not come from the airplane's lavatories."
They are essentially large hailstones.
An aviation pilot with the Collier County Sheriff's Office collected a sample of the ice to send to the Federal Aviation Administration for further evaluation. Its origin is a mystery to these homeowners but according to Wilson -- luckily -- "it probably won't strike twice."
No one inside the home was hurt, including the four dogs. We did contact the FAA, but at this time, we have not heard back from them.
Comment: A similar incident occurred in Chicago earlier this year. For more information about megacrymeteors, see also: