Meteorite falls

Meteorite falls, also called observed falls, are meteorites collected after their fall from space was observed by people or automated devices. All other meteorites are called "finds". There are more than 1,100 documented falls listed in widely used databases, most of which have specimens in modern collections. As of July 2016, the Meteoritical Bulletin Database has 1,147 confirmed falls (excluding rocks found nearby on the ground which turn out to not be associated with the fall and those with doubtful status).

Observed meteorite falls are interesting for several reasons.

Material from observed falls has not been subjected to terrestrial weathering, making the find a better candidate for scientific study. Historically, observed falls were the most compelling evidence supporting the extraterrestrial origin of meteorites. Furthermore, observed fall discoveries are a better representative sample of the types of meteorites which fall to Earth. For example, iron meteorites take much longer to weather and are easier to identify as unusual objects, as compared to other types. This may explain the increased proportion of iron meteorites among finds (6.7%), over that among observed falls (4.4%). There is also detailed statistics on falls such as based on meteorite classification.

By the end of 2015, the Meteoritical Bulletin Database has 1,144 confirmed falls with statistics for the previous decades as,

For the first half of 2016, three falls have been confirmed: Osceola, Mount Blanco, and Stubenberg for a new total of 1144 + 3 = 1147 confirmed falls.

The German physicist Ernst Cladni, sometimes considered as the father of meteoritics, was the first to publish (in 1794) the then audacious idea that meteorites were rocks from space. There were already several documented cases, one of the earliest was the Aegospotami meteorite of 467 BC and which became a landmark for 500 years.

Below is a list of 8 confirmed falls pre-1600 AD. However, unlike the Loket (Elbogen) and Ensisheim meteorites, not all are as well-documented.

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