[meteorite-list] A newbie question on Nantans

From: bernd.pauli at paulinet.de <bernd.pauli_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: 27 Oct 2008 09:27:20 UT
Message-ID: <DIIE.000000A70000352D_at_paulinet.de>

Carl inquired:

"If people saw the Nantan meteorite fall in 1516, why is
this referred as a find in 1958 in the Met Bull database?"


Hello Carl and List,

It is referred to as a find because, even though Chinese people saw this
meteor shower, no one really picked up any pieces (as far as we know).

'During summertime in May of Jiajing 11th year, stars fell from the northwest
direction, five to six fold long, waving like snakes and dragons. They were as
bright as lightning and disappeared in a second'.

Then, in 1985, when China desperately needed a lot of steel, the government
wanted their people to look everywhere for iron ores. Chinese households were
even encouraged to smelt cooking pots and other metallic gadgets in order to
increase the steel production.

People in the Nantan area found metallic objects that were rich in nickel-iron
(FeNi) but these proved to be unsuitable - famers' attempts to smelt the "irons"
failed and Chinese scientists who examined these chunks of iron soon realized
the true nature of these metallic objects.


Best from Germany,

Bernd
Received on Mon 27 Oct 2008 05:27:20 AM PDT