A 1.3kg meteorite crashed through an Auckland city home, hitting the couch and ending up under a computer, the Sunday Star Times reported today.

 

The book-sized rock hit Phil and Brenda Archer's suburban Ellerslie home on Saturday morning, leaving a large hole in their roof.

 

"I was in the kitchen doing breakfast and there was this almighty explosion," Brenda said. "It was like a bomb had gone off. I couldn't see anything, there was just dust."

 

She thought something had exploded in the ceiling, but her husband saw a stone under the computer and it was hot to touch.

 

The rock hit a leather couch and bounced back up to the ceiling before rolling under the computer.

 

The Archer's one-year-old grandson Luca was playing nearby but was unhurt.

 

"He must have a guardian angel," Brenda said.

 

Auckland University meteorite expert Joel Schiff said the rock was "a national treasure", but international collectors would offer big money for it.

 

He said the chondrite type meteor - meaning it was chipped off an asteroid - had probably hit the atmosphere the size of a basketball at 15 kilometres per second before slowing to around 100-200 metres a second at impact.