[meteorite-list] Barwell, the Christmas Eve Meteorite

[bernd.pauli at paulinet.de]

Happy Birthday, Barwell!

Bernd (in Germany at 00.35 local time ;-)

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On December 24, 1965, a Christmas present of sorts fell to the ground around
16:20 hrs, when a brilliant fireball swept across southern England from a south
-southwesterly direction and landed in Barwell accompanied by a tremendous
explosion caused by the exploding meteorite that went down in history as the
Christmas Eve meteorite.

The bolide must have been extremely bright. Some eyewitnesses say it was brighter
than the sun, others say it was almost twice as bright as Venus. There are also reports
of color changes during atmospheric descent.

Local residents noted a large explosion, the sky suddenly lit up, a whizzing noise was
heard, there was a loud roar, a low rumbling noise, a screaming sound from a low-flying
object directly overhead, a loud rustling noise after the explosion, a sudden thud as
something hit the ground, a terrible crack, and also electrophonic phenomena.

When one local picked up a strange-looking stone about as big as his hand, he immediately
threw it down again because it "felt warm". This stone had even left a small crater in the
asphalt road.

Another Barwell resident found a dent in the hood of his automobile and a "white stone"
on the ground weighing between six and seven pounds.

News of the actual fall was slow to spread but when it did, hell broke loose because
the British Museum had promised financial rewards for each and every find. Several
larger fragments and innumerable small stones were located by field parties and local
residents.

While initial disruption occurred at an altitude of about 25 miles, final disruption probably
occurred at a very low altitude above Barwell.

The  Barwell L5 chondrite has a gray interior, numerous FeNi specks and grayish chondrules
that give it a mottled look. Interestingly, some of the fragments at Barwell came in from slightly
different directions - maybe due to strong winds high up in the atmosphere because a distinct
smoke trail rapidly disappeared.

A 17-pounder made a perfectly vertical hole in sandy loam soil to a depth of 27 inches.
A 14 ½ ounce fragment penetrated the roof of a local factory.
A 7-pound piece lay in an 18-inch hole.
A 6-pound chunk was found in a factory backyard partly buried in a cinder heap!

Reference:

Lancaster Brown P. (1966) The Barwell Meteorite (Sky & Telescope, July 1966, pp. 7-11).