The Sikhote-Alin meteorite fell during daylight at 10:38 a.m. local time on February 12, 1947 in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range located in western Siberia, Russia. Witnesses reported seeing a "fireball that was brighter than the sun" which came from out of the north -- about 15 degrees east of north and descended at an angle of 41 degrees. It left a trail of smoke and dust that was 20 miles long, lingering for several hours. Shadows were casts across the face of the earth as it soared to it's final resting place in history. Light and sound of the fall were observed for two hundred miles around the point of impact.

The speed of entry was calculated by researchers to be 14.5 kilometers per second, which is 8.7 miles per second or 31,000 miles per hour. As the meteorite entered the upper layers of our atmosphere portions of it began to break apart producing the sculptured - "Complete Individual" - specimen photographed above. The group of fragments fell together.

When the descending group of meteorites reached an altitude of 3.5 miles, the largest mass broke apart in a violent explosion. This was at a very low altitude for such an event -- about half the altitude at which passenger jets fly.

The fragments scattered over an elliptical pattern area of half a square mile. The largest fragments made craters and pits in the earth. One of these measured 85 feet across and 20 feet deep. The larger craters were located at the far end of the strewn field.

Sikhote-Alin was one of the most spectacular "falls" to be witnessed in recorded history, and one of a very small number of iron meteorite falls.

Specimens from this fall are of two types. Some -- those called "Complete Individuals" -- show ablation and fusion crust. These are the ones that broke off of the main mass early in the decent, very high in our atmosphere. The specimen pictured in this collection is of a "Complete Individual". The surface was vaporized and eroded by the trip through the atmosphere. These erosions are characterized by regmaglypts -- or thumb prints -- ablation cavities sculptured on the surface of the specimens from high temperatures due to atmospheric heating.

The second type of Sikhote-Alin specimen are the fragments. These show the violent effects of being torn apart in the atmosphere at low altitudes, or being blasted apart on impact with the ground. These are the fragments characterized from the explosion which occured 3.5 miles high. Many look like shrapnel from violent explosions. Some show shield shapes or orientation. Striations may be seen on some flatter surfaces.

The total mass of the Sikhote-Alin has been calculated by scientists in the field at somewhat slightly under 1000 tons ( 2,000,001 pounds ). Of course this was spread over the entire area of the strewn field. The largest fragment is a 1,745 kilogram ( 3,847 pounds ) specimen now on display in Moscow, Russia. A larger number of specimens range from 1000 kg ( 2,205 pounds ) on down in size. To date over 15,000 specimens have been recovered and are currently owned by Collectors, Universities, Museums, and Scientific Groups.

The Sikhote-Alin is a coarsest octahedrite. The Widmanstatten bandwidth is nearly a centimeter. The bands are so large on this meteorite that if you were to saw and etch a smaller piece, you might see no crystal structure at all. While the structure may not be readily apparent in sawed and etched specimens, it can be seen in some complete individual specimens. The ablation in the atmosphere preferentially eroded along the crystal boundaries.

The Sikhote-Alin meteorite has been extensively studied by experts in the field from the University of California at Los Angeles, Cornell University at Utica, New York, and other scientific institutions. It has been classified as a Group IIB Iron Meteorite, with 5.9% Ni, 0.42% Co, 0.46% P, about 0.28% S, 52 ppm Ga, 161 ppm Ge, 0.03 ppm Ir. Almost all of the remaining portion (92.94%) of the meteorite is iron. The important minerals are:

KAMACITE--this iron nickel alloy makes up about 90 percent of specimens in finger size and width crystals. Neumann bands are common.

TAENITE and PLESSITE, the other iron-nickel alloy constituents, occur sparsely. It is often violently brecciated.

SCHREIBERSITE CRYSTALS occur as skeletal blades. This is a very hard iron phosphide that will ruin a saw blade.

RHABITES are abundant.

TROILITE--this iron sulfide occurs in minor amounts associated with the SCHREIBERSITE.

CHROMITE is also found..

The Sikhote-Alin 711 Gram ( 1.56 pound ) meteorite specimen, illustrated in this presentation has been determined through various scientific dating processes by the experts in the field, to be 4.5 Billion years in age. Sikhote-Alin is one of the oldest meteorites known to all mankind. The "Complete Individual" specimen illustrated is part of the main mass of an asteroid that originated during, or prior to the formation of our solar system. It has travelled hundreds of millions of billions of miles before reaching our planet.

On September 1, 2002 the 711 Gram specimen was further examined by the world's leading meteorite authority in the field Michael Casper. He was able to authenicate the specimen and to identify specific "flow lines" depicting the "angle, it's relative position, and front of the meteorite" as well as the "location on the meteorite from where it broke away from the main mass" as it entered our atmosphere. He documented various "Regmaglypts" which were created on it's surface as the specimen had heated to "melting stage" upon entry into our atmosphere, as well as extremely rare portions of Fusion Crust still seen.

Additional information is available on the Internet regarding the Sikhote-Alin Meteorite.