L5/6Malukhu, Uganda (1°4'N, 34°10'E)

Details

MBALE
L5/6
Malukhu, Uganda (1°4'N, 34°10'E)
This specimen is an end piece covered in fusion crust. The polished face displays a variegated chestnut to chocolate interior split by a vein of impact melt and adorned in sparkling flakes of metallic iron-nickel.
70 x 24 x 26mm (2¾ x 1 x 1in.)
81.5g

Literature

Jenniskens, et al. (1994), “The Mbale meteorite shower.” Meteoritics, 29(2), 246–254.

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Lot Essay

Throughout the course of civilization, hopes and fears have been roused by rocks inexplicably falling out of the sky. And so it happened again when at 3:40 PM on August 14, 1992, a deafening explosion occurred over the densely populated city of Mbale, Uganda and a shower of rocks rained earthward. In one of only two documented instances of a meteorite striking someone, a small meteorite fell through the leaves of a banana tree and struck a young boy on the head. The boy was not hurt (unlike the woman who was struck in 1954 in Sylacauga, Alabama, see lot 3). In the early 90s, Uganda was ravaged by AIDS, and many of the recovered meteorites were ground up by those who believed the stones were a cure for AIDS dispatched by God.

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