Joe Velaidum can’t help but wonder what could have happened if he’d lingered outside his front door for just a couple of minutes longer before taking his dogs for a walk.

The timing of their departure that day last July proved lucky. Just seconds later, a meteorite would plummet onto the front walkway of Velaidum’s home in Marshfield, Prince Edward Island, shattering on impact with a reverberating smack.

“The shocking thing for me is that I was standing right there a couple of minutes right before this impact,” Velaidum told CBC News.

“If I’d have seen it, I probably would’ve been standing right there, so it probably would’ve ripped me in half.”