[meteorite-list] Meteorite fall in Morocco

[Greg Hupe]

Hello Philippe,

Thank you for the data you have collected, this is how it should be done. It 
is odd how it takes someone from outside of Morocco to have to collect and 
present this information to us when it could have been done so easily by a 
local.

Aside from the "...iron and some nickel...", what type of meteorite do you 
think it is? I am hearing a couple things but have not seen much other than 
Habibi's photos and some others from Morocco.

Thanks again for the updates, we appreciate it,

Greg

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "philippe thomas" <thomasmeteorites at wanadoo.fr>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2004 4:48 AM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Meteorite fall in Morocco


Hello everybody,
I'm actually in Morroco looking for informations about the new fall. Here 
are my observations :

There as been an article published in "Liberation" (Morocco) on november 29. 
I will scan it when I
come back to France. This is the report of a declaration made on the first 
morrocan TV Channel
TVM on saturday night. Mrs Hasne Chennaoui Oudjane (Aïn Chok University of 
Casablanca) told
that the analysis done on the meteorites felt near Ben Guerir reveal that 
they contain some iron
and some nickel and that they come from an environment located between Mars 
and Jupiter.
During this report, they have shown a meteorite weighing about 4kg.


We arrived in Ben Guerir this morning (Nov 30) at 9.00. It's raining.
We took the direction of a little village distant of 20 km, Douar Tnaja. 
There, two witnesses of the
fall show us the place where a stone weighing around 10kg felt. The 
coordinates of this place are
N 32° 15' " W 8° 07'.
A 10mx10m area has been plowed and the crater is no more visible. It's very 
probable that a
meteorite of this weight dig a deep "hole" in this kind of ground, the soil 
there is light and dry.
The first rain after the fall was on November 29.
The two witnesses have seen a fireball coming from the North-North East and 
have heard a big
explosion which has terrified them.
After feeling reassured, the two shepherds went back to the impact area. One 
hour later, the
responsible of the village came and call the royal police force. As soon as 
they arrived, they have
requisitioned the piece.

The royal police force has visited each house of the area, asking people to 
give them the
meteorites. Some people have complied with this order but some others have 
hidden the
meteorites.
An inhabitant has showed me a meteorite weighing around 1kg. The only 
problem is that he
hides it in his well to be sure that the police won't find it. Dived in the 
water since a week, this
meteorite presents already some weathering signs.

I have made some photos I will upload on my website as soon as I come back 
to France.
Tomorrow (Dec,1st), I will go to another place where another big piece has 
been found.
I'll let you know.

All the best,
Philippe Thomas
Meteoritica

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