LEON SPRINGS -- A family out of Leon Springs had a strange experience Monday night.
It was 8:45 p.m. when 10-year-old Benjamin Gardea says he stepped outside his house for a few minutes
"I was outside near the garden hose, cleaning off some dirty shoes," Gardea said.
Suddenly he heard a loud sound like an old lawn mower trying to start. At first Gardea says he thought the electricity lines were malfunctioning and sparks were flying out.
"I looked up and I saw this fireball," Gardea said, as he stared at the sky. "I was scared and at first I thought martians."
Ben's mother, Marianna Gardea, was inside the house when she says Gardea ran to her screaming for help.
"He walked in just pale as a ghost, and said, 'Mom, something happened outside, I don't know what it was,'" Marianna Gardea said. "Finally a meteor just came to our mind."
The family walked outside to check out what Gardea had just witnessed. Gardea said they looked for a while and finally
found this piece of rock where he believes the fireball touched the ground before his eyes.
"We got a hammer and a chisel and we knocked it out, we looked at it and It looked like a meteorite," Gardea said.
KENS 5 took the rock to UTSA'S Dr. Eric Schlegel. He admitted that finding a meteorite is extremely rare.
"I think it's a very standard rock that comes out of Texas," Schlegel said.
Based on its weight and shape, Dr. Schlegel says it could have easily been a rock and a piece of the asphalt.
"It's not heavy enough to be a meteorite," Schlegel said. "A meteorite for this size would be closer to a pound and this is only an ounce or two."
But Schlegel says the fireball Gardea witnessed that night was very real. He adds that it could have easily been a part of the Perseids meteor shower.
Despite that outcome, Gardea says he'll hold on to the special sight, with a story to share for years to come.
"I'm going to put it in a glass case, a thing to pass on to generations," Gardea said.
