CALIMESA, CA (AP) — Just like that, it was all over. It was a fine Saturday afternoon in California. One moment, everyone was enjoying vegetarian hot dogs, veggie burgers (on gluten free buns) and watermelon. Kids were playing in the pool.
Nobody even saw it coming. But apparently they heard it — a strange, very loud whistling sound that lasted about 10 seconds, according to nearby residents. And then: BANG.
For only the second time in known human history, a meteorite came plunging in from the sky and took human life — in this case, killing all 38 people at the party. The prior event was on Aug. 22, 1888, in what is now Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. One person was killed in that event.
George Flanigan had just left the party 20 minutes earlier, and escaped with his life.
“Everyone was socially distancing,” he said. “People were wearing masks, everyone, including the kids in the pool. I don’t know how this happened.”
“We heard the fire ball, the crash and then a huge rumbling sound, like 100 earthquakes,” said his girlfriend, Molly Cowan, a nurse, who had left with Flanigan “It’s just unbelievable. It can happen to anyone, anywhere.”
It is believed that Mr. and Mrs. Alex Bunglehorst, the hosts of the ill-fated party, had even worn their masks while having sex earlier in the day, just to be on the safe side.
Local officials said it was a scene of total devastation.
“We’ve never had a meteorite before,” said Jim Willis, chief of the Calimesa Fire Department. “In fact we just inspected the place two weeks ago for fire code violations and they passed with flying colors,” he added.
In a hastily convened press conference, first responders said that though all the cars were badly burned, he could see that one of the cars had a Joe Biden bumper sticker on it.
Cowan, who had just left the party, said that all 32 adults who lost their lives were going to vote for Biden.
“At least it was California,” said a Don Donaldson, a spokesman for Biden2020, reached at the campaign’s Philadelphia headquarters. “We’ll win no problem, though we’re deeply saddened to lose such devoted supporters.”
NASA public affairs department said that the object that struck was a near-Earth asteroid about seven meters in diameter. Top officials of the space agency were meeting with Pres. Trump to determine whether all Americans should be ordered underground to prevent future loss of life.
“Where there is one, there could be another,” the agency said in a statement. “We cannot be too careful.”
Mike Brown, Caltech professor of planetary sciences, was reached by text message. “This had to be 1998-SP147,” he said. “That little fucker. We should have known.”
Only survivor was a two-year-old pit bull named Samantha, who was reported missing an hour earlier and was found hiding in the woods to the side of the development.
This is a developing story.