* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Mbale meteorite

Blobrana · L

Mbale
Uganda
Fell 1992 August 14,15:40 local time, 12:40 UTC.
Ordinary chondrite (L5/6)
The fall occurred in a heavily populated area in and around the city Mbale. A loud explosion was heard which persisted for some time as a rumbling noise. For about two minutes a greyish-white smoke trail was seen. A meteorite shower fell over an area of about 3 x 7 km. The stones hit several buildings, but nobody was hurt. An expedition was organized by the Dutch Meteor Society, the Leiden Observatory, and Makerere University between August 29 and September 5; it located 48 impact positions of masses between 27.4 kg and 0.1 g. Together with material found in the months after the fall, 426 stones were recovered with a total mass of 108 kg. Classification and analysis, olivine Fa25.4, pyroxene Fs21.8, A. El Goresy, Max Planck-Institut fur Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany. Information, Peter Jenniskens, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, California 94035, USA; Hans Betlem, Dutch Meteor Society, Lederkarper 4, 2318 NB Leiden, The Netherlands; Thomas Schliiter, Dept. of Geology, Makerere University, P. O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda. The main mass is with the Dutch Meteor Society, it will later be transferred to the National Museum of Natural History, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Source

Blobrana · L

Ugandan sues U.S. over meteorite

In an unprecedented case, a local businessman from eastern Uganda is threatening to sue the U.S. embassy to recover or be compensated for a "priceless cargo of celestial particles" he entrusted with it.
Details of the case indicate that the businessman, Cornelius Kodet, in 1992 deposited a meteorite weighing approximately 5kg with the U.S. embassy in Kampala for safe keeping. The meteorite was part of a larger one that had crashed to earth in Mbale on August 14 1992.
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Blobrana · L

The Mbale (L5/6) meteorite fell in Eastern Uganda, on the 14th August, 1992.
A total mass of 150 kg was recovered.

1° 4'N, 34° 10'E

Numerous small meteorites hit buildings and a boy was reportedly struck in Mbale, Uganda. (1992)