8:00am UK, Wednesday June 30, 2004

A family in New Zealand has experienced a close encounter with outer space.     

A grapefruit-sized meteorite smashed through the roof of their Auckland home, hitting their couch before coming to rest under a computer.

The meteorite's soft landing

It narrowly missed hitting homeowner Brenda Archer's one-year-old grandson.            

The rock is only the ninth meteorite found in New Zealand and the first to hit a home.            

Experts believe the 2.9lb piece of space junk could be worth more than £3,000.            

Homeowner Brenda Archer said, "It was like a bomb had gone off. There was just dust."