Meteorites are stony or metallic bodies that fall to the Earth from space.
Many meteorites preserve chemical and physical properties that were established 4.5 billion years ago, during the earliest history of the solar system, and thus provide some of the best clues to the nature of the events that occurred in that remote time. A small meteorite may fall without any sound or light effects. The fall of a larger meteorite can be accompanied by startling light and sound effects. A fiery mass suddenly appears in the sky travelling swiftly in an arc and leaving a luminous trail behind. It may then disintegrate with a loud explosion and its fragments fall to the ground.