THE FALL OF THE SEONI, INDIA, STONY METEORITE

Name: SEONI

Place of fall: A large individual fell 1 mile east of the village of Khandasa on an island between the Pachdhar nala and Bawanthari river, and a smaller stone fell about 1 mile northeast of the village of Piparwani, both in the Seoni District, Madhya Pradesh, India.

21^°41'2"N, 79^°30'3"E. (Khandasa) 21^°40'23"N, 79^°33'52"E. (Piparwani)

Date of fall: January 16, 1966, at about 2:45 p.m.

Class and type: Stone. Olivine-bronzite chondrite (H6).

Number of individual specimens: 2

Total weight: About 21 kg (about 20 kg and about 1 kg)

Circumstances of fall: Several villagers remember the event and stated that there was a loud cracking sound. They were terrified by the sound and a panic was created. An eyewitness to the large meteorite fall was Mr. Sukhlal who saw it falling from a distance of about 500 feet. Mr. Bhojlal Deshmukh collected this stone and reported the event and circumstances of the fall at the nearby Korai Police Station. Mr. Adkoo witnessed the fall of the small stone in the neighborhood of the village of Piparwani. The government officers from the District Headquarters, Seoni, took possession of both stones. The information in this report was gathered by Dr. Nayak during a visit to the village of Khandasa on February 23, 1971.

Sources: Dr. V. K. Nayak, Center of Advanced Study in Geology, University of Saugar, Saugar (M. P.), India. T. E. Bunch, A. P. Mall and C. F. Lewis. 1972. The Seoni Chondrite. Meteoritics 7, 87-95.