Alais
History (P.-M. Pelé, meteor-center.com) : On March 15, 1806, at 5.30 p.m., two detonations a few seconds apart were heard near the city of Alès. They were followed by a rumble that lasted for ten to twelve minutes. A shepherd named Eglon, who kept his flock in Bouquet and who by chance had his eyes turned to the sky on the north side, saw a luminous cloud a little before the detonations, which dissipated it. Two meteorites fell that day in Saint-Etienne-de-l'Olm and in Castenau-Valence, two villages a little less than eight km apart. Two local scientists living in Alès went to the two places to collect testimonials. In Saint-Etienne-de-l'Olm, they met a family of farmers, who had heard the detonations and rumblings. Trying to see where the noises came from, they saw a blackish mass arriving from the north, which passed over their heads and fell into a field of arable land near the village. The stone broke on impact. All people present took pieces of the meteorite; they estimated the initial mass of the meteorite fragments to be 4 kg. Then, the two scientists went to Castelnau-Valence where they met four eyewitnesses of the fall. The circumstances were the same as in Saint-Etienne-de-l'Olm: detonations, rumblings and a black mass which came from the north. The meteorite fell 25 paces from a man. It broke into three fragments on impact, which the people present shared. The mass of the stone was estimated at 2 kg.