A spectacular fireball which was seen over England's Western parts last week could have dropped meteorite in Shropshire, claimed scientists.
Fragments of the meteorite could have landed somewhere south of the market town of Shrewsbury, according to scientists from the UK Fireball Alliance (UKFAll).
UKFAll Scientists Searching Meteorite
The fireball, which was seen last Wednesday night, forced scientists to search for the space rock during their Easter bank holiday.
Local community members are being appealed to help UKFAll, a collaboration between academics and citizen scientists interested in meteor observation and meteorite recovery.
500g of Meteorite Could Be in The Area
Dr Luke Daly of UKFAll and the University of Glasgow told The Times that nearly 500g of meteorite could have survived to the ground in approximately four fragments just south of Shrewsbury.
"Given the amount of wheat and oilseed rape in the area, we have been literally looking for a needle in a haystack," said Daly.
Currently, UKFAll is inquiring nearby people if they found anything in their gardens or nearby place.
The UK Fireball Alliance are asking people in the area if they've found anything interesting in their back gardens or driveways over the bank holiday weekend to let them know.
Scientists are also exploring possibilities that people in the area could have captured the dramatic footage on their car dashcams, which can help them find the accurate location where meteorite fell.
Experts have revealed that the meteorite won't be hot and it's very safe to be handled as similar to other rocks. However, if it's picked by the bare hands it could contaminate the stone.
Previously, thousands of meteorites have been found, but only a few dozen occasions have they been 'witnessed', and traced to a specific impact. This allows scientists to calculate the meteorite's trajectory, helping them to work out where in the solar system it came from, according to the Daily Mail.
A year back, UKFAll led the successful retrieval of a meteorite in the town of Winchcombe in the Cotswolds. On February 28, 2021, the Winchcombe meteorite fell from a fireball that lit up the sky over the UK and northern Europe.
