Possible Kenyan Meteorite Fall

[David Entwistle]

There's an interesting video of a possible meteorite fall in Kenya here.
Sonic effects followed by the fall of a stone.
The time is reported variously as 2011 July 16 09:00, 10:00, or 10:30 local which equates to 2011 July 16 06:00, 07:00, or 07:30 UTC.
The locality as Kilimambogo between Thika and Kangunde, Kenya.
(1° 3' 46.3176" South; 37° 14' 22.3152" East).

[Matt Smith]

Looks like the real deal, thanks for posting this.

[Barwellian]

Yes looks like the real thing to me....my guess is an L6.

Who's flying out to look for some more then?

[Barwellian]

More here....Interesting hearing them report about the Carancas "poisonings" at the end of the video Dave posted!

and in this they suggest the meteorite was spinning when it landed?

They suggest around 5kg.....I was going to guess at 3kg.




http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Meteor+cra ... 3ulmhtz/-/

Posted Saturday, July 16 2011 at 17:34


An unknown mass believed to be from outer space on Saturday fell near Kilimambogo and Tala towns.

Initially, there were reports of an explosion in Kangundo, Tala, Yatta and Kakuzi before an extra-terrestrial rock fell at around 10 am.

Area residents say the loud sound was comparable to a bomb explosion or a crashing aircraft while others felt it was an earthquake.

Police and military officers from Thika rushed to the scene at Kiumwiri village, Murang’a county. The military later took away the object for expert analysis.

The black smooth rock weighing about five kilos fell at a maize plantation, 60 meters from a nearby homestead, but no one was harmed.

Lt Col J.N. Vungo, the commanding officer of the 12th Engineers Battalion, said initial assessment indicate that the object was not manmade and was believed to have come from outer space.

“We got conflicting reports from Kilimambogo area indicating that an aircraft had crashed or a bomb had exploded in the area and jointly with the police we mobilised our officers to find out what was happening,” he said.

On locating the scene, security personnel sealed off the area, which was attracting curious residents.

“We believe it is a heavenly body, probably a piece of a meteor that may have disintegrated on entering the earth’s atmosphere,” said Lt Col Vungo, who was accompanied by Thika police boss Paul Leting.

Mr Vungo said reports from Ndunyu Sabuk area indicated that a bigger object was seen in the skies before it disintegrated after a loud blast.

The official said according to witnesses, the object raised a cloud of dust on hitting the ground, was extremely hot and was spinning on impact.

“Meteors often lose stability and fly away from their orbit, but they burn out on entering the atmosphere due to friction, Lt Col Vungo said.

However, he added that it was a rare occurrence in the East African region.

An eye witness Ms Jane Wangui Kibugi said she was only 50 meters away when the object fell.

“I saw a cloud of dust and when I went closer I found the black smooth stone, which had dug a hole on the ground,” she said.



Great to have another new fall to ponder.

Graham

[MeteoritesEire]

looks the real deal alright-nice stone

[David Entwistle]

There's a minor update on this Kenyan fall from The Star.

SCIENTIST COMMENCE STUDY ON FALLEN METEORITE
Wednesday, 20 July 2011 19:06 Cornelius Mwau

Scientists from the University of Nairobi and experts from the department of mines and geology have begun tracing the route that a space rock followed before landing with a loud bang in Thika. According to commissioner of Mines and Geology, Moses Masibo the fall is a normal occurrence although most objects from outer space do not reach the earth's surface. He says already scientists have so far concluded that it has components typical to those of other rocks on the earth's surface.

[MeteoritesEire]

I imagine everyone has seen Mike's 3.5 kilo stone from this fall.He says he got 11 kilos

if one of us had flown out when this was first posted we may have beaten him to it.

[MeteoritesEire]

copyright Mike Farmer--I'm sure he won't mind

[msg-meteorites]

Jim, yep, looks like Mike Farmer, Greg Hupe and Robert Ward have recovered quite a bit from this fall!

[MeteoritesEire]

great score for them

looks like another light-coloured L6ish matrix

so many recent falls like this -Bassi,Soltmany,Breja--I'm sure there's couple more too--seems a bit statistically anomalous