* Astronomy

A specimen of a meteorite which fell about half a mile from Aldsworth in a field occupied by Mr. Waine, within twenty yards of his workmen, who were sitting against a wall at the time, on the 4th of August 1835, a sunny afternoon without a cloud. A meteor was seen at Cirencester proceeding eastward, and a remarkable noise was heard at half-past 4 in the afternoon. The noise was heard in most parts adjacent.
The workman saw no unusual light, but heard the aerolite rush through the air, and felt it shake the ground by striking it with great violence. It fell on a swarth of oats, and drove the straw before it down into the earth for six inches, till opposed by rock. When the men got it up, it was not hot, but the part of the surface which appeared not to have been broken was quite black and soiled the fingers. It weighs about 9270 grains. It contains a great deal of iron, but is not magnetic. Its specific gravity is 3.4.
Mr. Waine states that a shower of small pieces fell about half a mile south of the spot where this fell. Children thought it was a shower of black beetles, and held out their hands to catch them as they fell.
My niece, Miss Anna Sophia Brown, now Mrs Pooley, about 4 p.m. on the same day, being in her father's garden at Cirencester, perceived a meteor passing from W. to E., apparently about twice the height of Cirencester tower, which is upwards of 100 feet high, looking like a copper ball larger than an orange [?], and having a tail or stream of light behind it. In its passage it made a rumbling noise heard by many persons, reminding her of thunder, and the people of the town marvelled that it should thunder in a serene day with a cloudless sky. On the same day at Aldsworth, 13 miles E. of Cirencester, the meteoric stone fell, the particulars of which are before given.

1857 Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, volume 27, page 140