Minuscule Meteorite?

I was reposing in the outdoor tub recently, deep into a meditative state, eyes shut, when there was a sudden PING!, as something impacted the metal stove pipe above me, and then bounced to the ground. The alarming event began with that metallic PING!, followed by a gentle “plop,” as the object fell to the ground, beside the tub.

Startled, I sat up and immediately began to puzzle over what was the cause of this abrupt sound that broke the gentle silence of the night. There are trees overhead, but it is the wrong time of year for them to drop seeds—besides, their seeds are not very hard or dense. This PING! was caused by something hard—like a stone or a piece of metal.

Could it have been a bird dropping some sort of a projectile in my direction? I doubt that, because if it were a bird, it would have dropped a nut or nut shell—which also would not have caused this metallic PING! And certainly a bird who dropped a poop bomb on me would have generated at best just a quiet “plop.” No, this thing was stony or metallic like.

After having pondered all the possibilities that I could dream up, I was forced—like Sherlock Holmes—to conclude it was likely caused by a minuscule meteorite. (The reader might remember that Holmes's investigative technique was to consider all possibilities, then rule them out, one by one, until the sole remaining prospect must be the answer.) Thus, I was forced to come the conclusion that my PING! was the tiny remains of a meteor that had entered Earth's atmosphere, having burned off most all of itself, except that tiny rock-like core that we call a meteorite.

Now, I realize that the chances of a meteorite landing on my stove's metal pipe are vanishingly small. But people have had them land nearby, or even drill a hole through the roof of their house! If this was a meteorite, and anything larger than a grain of sand, and had fallen a few feet father west, it would have drilled a hole through me! I am grateful.

Most meteors are tiny grains of rock, and never reach the ground as meteorites, before they burn up in the atmosphere. A precious few land as fist-sized rocks or even chunks of iron. Some 65 million years ago a monster meteorite (10-15 km or 6-10 miles in diameter) plunged to Earth and sent the dinosaurs to their doom. I should be thankful mine was so minuscule. But then again, could it have been a bird that shed a gallstone, as it flew over? Back to my Holmesian inquiry.