Solving the mystery of metal object that hit Kitchener, Ont., home

A Kitchener, Ont., man finally knows where a metal object, which crashed through the roof of his home Monday and nearly hit him, originated.

The answer wasn’t what he expected.

Robert Caluian was brushing his teeth around 9:40 a.m. when an approximately 25-pound hunk of metal went through his roof, landing in the washroom where it narrowly missed his head.

A metal object that fell through the roof of a Kitchener, Ont. home on April 8, 2024. (Submitted)

He initially wondered if it was part of an asteroid or if it fell from a passing airplane. That wasn’t so farfetched, since his home, on Beaumont Crescent, isn’t far from the Region of Waterloo International Airport.

The key clue was another – and even closer – location.

Caluian lives near Chicopee Ski & Summer Resort, which is currently undergoing an expansion. Part of that work includes clearing trees from parts of the property near Fairway Road North.

A tree cutting machine at Chicopee Ski & Summer Resort in Kitchener, Ont. on April 11, 2024. (Heather Senoran/CTV Kitchener)

“What the contractor believes happened is the blade [from a tree grinding machine] must have hit a rock in the ground or something and the tooth broke off and then went flying,” said Chicopee CEO Bill Creighton on Thursday.

He added that the blade would have had to fly over trees, a street, and another house before crashing into Caluian’s home.

 

Creighton calls the incident an “unbelievable” freak accident. He and the contractor both feel terrible about what happened.

“In his 40 years of being an operator he’s never experienced anything like this. He’s actually very distraught,” the resort’s CEO said.

Creighton also went over to Caluian’s house to apologize.

Despite the very close call, Caluian took the whole thing in stride.

A metal object that fell through the roof of a Kitchener, Ont. home on April 8, 2024. (Submitted)

“It’s really nice because, obviously, accidents happen everywhere and it’s the principle of accountability, you know, the fact that people own up to it even if it was a mistake that they didn’t want to happen,” he said Thursday. “Him apologizing meant a lot.”

Caluian still can’t believe it happened to him, and is also a little bit disappointed.

“At least we know what happened,” he said. “Me and my dad, at first we joked about how if it was an asteroid we could have sold it to NASA and that would have been cooler, I guess.”

After the incident, Caluian called his insurance company and they took the metal tooth away.