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Meteorite Falls

Steve wrote:

> Hey Bernd, look this one up:  How many meteorite falls have been
> recovered by amateurs after 5pm and before 8am on weekdays

> How many meteorite falls have been recovered at anytime on a weekend?

> And how many have been recovered by government employees during normal
> business hours?

I hope Steve isn't pulling my leg ;-)

The usual, impersonal words are 'were collected', 'were recovered', 'was
found', etc. with no special information on who recovered, found, or
picked up any pieces.

There are 416 falls in my database that happened  a t  or  a f t e r
17:00 hrs and  a t  or  b e f o r e  08:00 hrs in the morning.

Here are  s o m e  of these entries:

The Noblesville H4 chondrite was picked up by Brodie Spaulding (age 13) 
a few seconds after it fell.
The stone passed two witnesses, B.Spaulding and B.Kinzie, who observed
it land 3.56 m in front of them on the lawn in front of a house.

The Borodino H5 chondrite (brecciated) was observed to fall (01:00hrs)
by a soldier on guard before the battle of Borodino.

Coleman (L6): Mr. Tom Hagon recovered a single pyramidal stone of 469 g
that had penetrated the roof of his house. The meteorite was recovered
within 12 h of observations of a bolide accompanied by a sonic boom.

Wethersfield (1971)[L6]. A stone of 350g fell through the roof of a
house.

Omolon (PAL) A mass of 250 kg was found in 1983 by reindeer-breeder
I.Tynavie, who had observed the fall on May 16, 1981.

Tianchang (H5) A single mass weighing 2232g was recovered from a field
by a farmer a few minutes after the fall.

Uchkuduk (L6) Cowboys heard a sonic boom and saw a small dust cloud at
the impact site. They found two fragments of together about 1 kg in a
small crater in a sand field.

Monahans (1998) [H5] Two stones, weighing 1344 g and 1243 g, fell in the
city of Monahans, Texas, after two sonic booms and a fireball were
observed over a wide area (up to 100 km from the fall site).

Peekskill (H6) After a fireball and a loud noise a stone fell on M.
Knapp's  car before her house at 207 Wells Street, Peekskill. A stone of
12.37 kg and about 200 g in fragments were recovered.

Lost City (H5) Following observations on the Prairie Photographic
network, a search area was delimited and 4 fragments totalling 17kg were
recovered, the first only six days after the fall. 

Ban Rong Du (Iron, ungrouped) A 16.7 kg iron meteorite was collected by
Mr. Saree Ragkon and Mrs. Kumla Ragkon from the bottom of a 110 cm deep
hole in sandy soil. The meteorite was observed to fall at a steep angle,
coming from the southwest.

Hökmark (L4) After detonations, two small pieces, 108.8g and 196.7g,
were seen to fall. The smaller one was picked up immediately and the
bigger one was found next day.

Glanerbrug (LL) A stone fell on the roof of a house and broke into
numerous fragments, the largest weighing 135g. The total mass recovered
was about 670g,

Mihonoseki (L6) During a thunderstorm the meteorite fell through the
roof of the two-story house of M.Matsumoto in 117 Sozu, Mihonoseki. It
penetrated two floors and was found the next day under the house near a
small hole in the ground, one individual weighing 6.38 kg.

Wethersfield (1982) After the appearence of a fireball and thunderlike
booms, a mass of 2704g and about 52g of fragments were recovered after
they had penetrated the roof of a house in Wethersfield. (Same
Wethersfield as above!!!).

Ijopega (H6) A single stone of 7.33kg spiralled down emitting a smoke
trail and accompanied by sonic phenomena. It made a hole in soft ground
25m from an eyewitness.

Harleton (L6) One stone of 8.36kg was recovered a few minutes after its
fall. It penetrated the sandy soil to a depth of 75cm.

Rose City (H5) After the appearance of a brilliant meteor moving NNW. to
SSE. over the NE. portion of the Lower Peninsular of Michigan, and
detonations, three stones of 3.25lb, 7lb and 13lb respectively, fell
about 9 miles NE. of Rose City, and were found next day.

Juancheng (H) A shower of small stones (>1000 individuals) fell near the
Yellow River after a brilliant fireball with smoke and sparks terminated
in a loud, resonating explosion. The fall ellipse measured about
10.5x4.3 km, oriented E-W. The largest recovered piece weighed 2.7 kg,
and the total mass is >100 kg. One fragment was reported to have
penetrated a roof and landed in a pot on a stove. This meteorite has
been widely traded and sold under the unofficial name "Heze."

Pena Blanca Spring (AUB) Fell into a murky pond near Marathon; about
70kg recovered, including masses of 47kg and 13kg. 

Mount Tazerzait (L5) A single stone of  about 110 kg was witnessed to
fall by a seven-year-old Tuareg boy. Numerous pieces of this were
distributed by a Tuareg man.

Canon City (H6) One stone of 1.4kg fell through the roof of a garage,
3.18km N. of Canon City Post Office; it broke into four major fragments
of 559g, 531g, 74g, and 53g.

Best wishes from Germany,

Bernd