The Sky Is Falling: Mysterious Ice Chunks Hit Chicago Home

November 6, 2009 1:26 p.m. EST

Chicago, IL (AHN) - The Dowd family dinner was interrupted Wednesday night when their whole house shook as it was pelted by huge chunks of ice.

A chunk of ice fell from a partly cloudy sky, caving in the corner of the Dowd's 5-year-old- roof dormer and showering ice onto their front yard, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The Dowds saved the ice hunks in their freezer, and Chicago police and both the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the incident.

The home lies in the flight path of airplanes coming into O'Hare airport, so perhaps the ice fell from a plane. Another possible culprit could be record-breaking hailstones.

Planes were landing at the time of the accident, but the ice that hit the Dowd home wasn't the septic, lavatory-blue normally found when ice falls from airplanes, the Tribune reported.

Although there have been no injuries or fatalities associated with ice falling from aircrafts, FAA records show at least 22 occurrences in 25 years.