Regarding the telescope theory, you've actually reminded me that I saw something somewhere, I don't know where, that supported the fact.
It might've been on this forum, but I don't know. I'll try to see if I can remember where.
News Update: I finally had my first meteor in the game! The video of the event can be found
here, on my YouTube channel. No one was injured, and nothing was damaged...but the big rock was worth almost $3,000.
My sim was taking a shower at the gym in Riverview. She is brand new (week 1, day 3) and doesn't have the money to afford her own shower, never mind a telescope. Not only was she not looking through one, she's never even
seen one. Likewise, I've had a couple of other sims who have trained logic to level 10 by way of a telescope, and this is the first time I've seen one in my game.
That theory holds as much water as a colander. When it
does happen while a sim is looking through a telescope, it's nothing more than coincidence.