[meteorite-list] The great fall of China

[Darren Garrison]

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?ID=35834

Thousands of villagers, enthusiasts search for meteorite in China
AFP: 1/11/2005 
BEIJING, Dec 15 (AFP) - Thousands of villagers in northwest China's Gansu province were combing the
hills in search of an unidentified flying object believed to be large meteorite, state media said
Wednesday. 

The object is thought to have hit the rural suburbs, about 60 kilometers (37.2 miles) from downtown
Lanzhou Saturday night, causing a loud explosion recorded by the Gansu Provincial Seismology Bureau,
the China Daily said. 

Elderly people and young children alike in Lanzhou city's Yuzhong county amassed Tuesday and
scattered themselves in the hills in search of what experts think could be a one ton object, the
Beijing News said. 

Three large silver-colored unusual looking stones that are believed to be fragments from the
meteorite were found. 

One farmer was pictured in the China Daily holding one of the fragments. 

Enthusiasts from elsewhere in the country, including the former British colony Hong Kong were
heading to Lanzhou to join the search, the reports said. 

Experts were quoted as saying it was important to find the meteorite as soon as possible before its
properties change with the earth's environment as it can reveal important clues about the solar
system. 


12/15/2004 06:47 GMT - AFP