Title: Monahans (1998) H5 Chondrite: an Unusual Meteorite Fall with Extraterrestrial Halite and Sylvite Authors: Gibson, E. K., Jr.; Zolensky, M. E.; Lofgren, G. E.; Lindstrom, D. J.; Morris, R. V.; Schmidt, S. D.; Yang, S. V.
At 6:48 p.m. CST March 22, 1998, the citizens of Monahans, Texas, were subjected to a fireball, observed over a 150-mile swath surrounding the town, and two sonic booms followed by rumbling accompanied by a large dust train. Two stones, which landed on city streets, were collected. One (1243 gm), which landed 40 feet from where 8 boys were standing made a penetration crater 4 inches deep in loose sand and was slightly warm to the touch when recovered within 1-2 minutes of fall. Coordinates of the fall site are 102°53'30"W and 31°36'30"N. The other stone (1344gm) was recovered 800 feet SSE of the first site the following morning. It was collected 10 feet from the penetration crater (4 x 5 x 2 in. deep) it made in an asphalt street. A section of the asphalt street was removed to preserve the crater. No additional meteorites have been located. Specimens are completely covered with fusion crust except where small chips were broken upon impact or prior to collection by the Monahans police. The meteorite is named Monahans (1998), because an Fe meteorite, Monahans (1938), was found previously.