Meteorite gallery

Allende
Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3)
Fell February 8, 1969
Chihuahua, Mexico

In the early morning of February 8, 1969, a brillant fireball was observed over much of northern Mexico and in parts of the U.S. states of Texas and New Mexcio. Thousands of stones rained down over a large area of rural Mexico after tremendous detonations were heard. One stone weighing 15 kg fell in the town of Pueblito de Allende. The same day, it was broken up and pieces taken to the office of the newspaper El Correo del Parral. In the evening, the news of a meteorite fall was published (Clarke et al., 1970). Dr. Elbert A. King from NASA was the first U.S. researcher on the scene (see the personal account of his journey in King, 1989). Scientists from the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) followed within the week after the fall, leading to the recovery of very fresh meteoritic material. A detailed description of the Allende meteorite strewnfield, of the recovery efforts and of specimens found by the NMNH team is given by Clarke et al. (1970).

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