FALL OF THE KABO, NIGERIA, STONY METEORITE

Name: KABO

Synonym: Gwarzo

Place of fall: Kabo, Gwarzo District, Kano State, Nigeria.

11^° 50'N, 8^° 09'E.

Date of fall: April 25, 1971, about 4:30 p.m. local time (1530 GMT).

Class and type: Stone. Olivine-bronzite chondrite (H5).

Number of individual specimens: 4

Total weight: More than 10 kg

Circumstances of fall: The shower occurred on a Sunday afternoon while farmers were in their fields. Sound directions and crater asymmetry indicated that the meteorite approached from the west. "Thunder-like sounds were heard consecutively and these were followed by the inclined descent of a reddish object with trails of cloudy smoke following it". During the following week the District Head collected the specimens and forwarded them to the Emir of Kano. One specimen was recovered in two pieces of about 3 kg each, one stone weighed over 5 kg, one almost 3 kg, and the smallest 0.9 kg.

Sources: Report of a field investigation by T. A. Badejoko, Department of Geology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, forwarded by Professor M. 0. Oyawoye, Head of Department. Dr. Deborah E. Ajakaiye, Ahrnadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. Report circulated by Smithsonian Institutions Center for Short-Lived Phenomena, Cambridge, Massachusetts (Event number 51-7, cards number 1218, 1236 and 1263 of May 24, June 9 and July 23, 1971).