Extremely rare meteorite found in wake of spectacular U.K. fireball may contain the "building blocks of life" By Sophie Lewis NASA attempts historic touchdown on asteroid Late last month, a spectacular fireball lit up the night sky over the United Kingdom and Northern Europe. Now, locals are starting to recover leftover meteorite fragments — and scientists say they may contain the "building blocks of life." An extremely rare meteorite — found on an unassuming driveway of a house in Gloucestershire — marks the first piece of space rock discovered in the U.K. in 30 years, the Natural History Museum of London said in a statement Tuesday. It will give researchers a peek into what the solar system looked like when it was forming, some 4.6 billion years ago.