At about 9:30 P.M. on 1790 July 24, a brilliant fireball with a long, luminous trail was seen for nearly 50 seconds over a large area of southern France. An enormous explosion heralded the fall of stones over several villages in the vicinity of Barbotan an Agen. Read more
Saturday, July 24, 1790, around 21:30, MM. of Carrit Barbotan-Baudin and walk in the courtyard of Castle Mormès. While the sky was calm and cloudless, they suddenly observed an intense glow. Looking up, they saw a fireball moving from south to north, although this path is disputed by researchers. The meteor broke up into several glowing fragments. Three minutes later, a loud bang was heard. The meteor exploded near Julliac and quantity of stones fell near this town and up Barbotan. Others fell further. Fragments of this meteorite fell in the moors, forests, in some farmyards without incident, it seems, a lot of damage to homes, although Meunier informs us that one of the stones killed a bull and shepherd. However, Bigot Morogues explains that the stone that killed a man and livestock and destroyed his farm cottage in 1790 was by lightning. Several ancient texts fail to mention some places where rocks have fallen. The drop zone is very extensive since it extends Losse (Landes), Lannes (Lot-et-Garonne), Eauze (Gers) Creon d'Armagnac (Landes). All stones have been found, but after more than two centuries in the earth, it is unlikely more will be recovered. Read more