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The Tamdaght, Morocco meteorite fall page 1 |
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Searching for meteorites of the Tamdakht fall in the Wadi Amarhra, photo courtesy of M.Aid
M. Aid with a shattered ~2kg mass and fragments in a shallow impact pit
On Saturday, December 20, at 22:37 local time the inhabitants of southwestern
and central Morocco became witnesses of an intensive long lasting fireball. The
bolide that was seen across the country by hundreds,
if not thousands, descended in an almost horizontal trajectory from the west coast
towards the High Atlas. Two weeks later the first meteorites were found.
There are divergent reports on the exact bearing of the trajectory. According
to A. Alhyane the bolide was "traveling from southwest to the
northeast" towards Tamdaght (or Tamdakht), north of Quarzazate. Several eye witnesses north of the
trajectory in the area of Ait Ourir stated that the fireball could be seen towards the south between the
two villages of Ait Ourir and Tahnaout. There it disappeared between the mountains.
If that observation is correct this means that the
bolide must have already travelled at a very low altitude at that time. There is a gap between the
Jebel Bou Ouriol (3578 meters) and the Jebel Tistouit (3224 meters) through which the trajectory could be
seen by an observer in the Ait Ourir area.
When the bolide diappeared behind the Jebel Tistouit it must have appeared to any
observer in the two villages that the fireball indeed collided with a mountain.
The picture given by the eyewitnesses in the "Al Masah" article of December 28 confirms this interpretation.
After disappearing behind the Jebel Tistouit the trajectory of the fireball continued for another ten kilometers
before meteorites dropped 10-15km northeast of Tamdakht.
Meteorite fragment of 208g from the Tamdakht fall. Together with seven other fragments which fit together it forms
a delta shaped mass of 399g. The larger fragments display numerous impact marks indicating a
violent contact with red sandstone and bright limestone gravel
The fireball sightings and the seismic phenomena were reported to the Meteorite Central Mailing list by A.
Alhyane one week after the event on December 27, 2008. The following day the Moroccan newspaper "Al Masah" (The Evening)
published an article on the incident which was later distributed by Léa & Philippe Thomas (www.meteoritica.com).
Al Masah: "This is not science fiction"
Article in "Al Masah" on the fireball of December 20
The following text is a translation of the newspaper article from Arab to German
and subsequently into English, the native Arab speaker may
forgive eventual inaccuratenesses.
"Al Masah" (The Evening") of December 28, 2008
An alien object penetrated the skies over Marrakech, collided with a mountain and caused the earth to tremble. Residents of
the area are convinced a cosmic body fell to earth but an amateur astronomer rejects this.
By Malut Aschallah
In the vicinity of Marrakech a ball of fire was seen crossing the night sky over the
communities of Ait Ourir and Tahnaout in a horizontal trajectory before the body
subsequently collided with a mountain. The event caused an explosion and seismic shock waves which shook the ground.
This scenery was not part of a science fiction film, in fact this happened
in reality last Saturday night. The inhabitants who witnessed the spectacle
were fearing for their lives. According to consistent reports, both from Ait
Ourir and Tahnaout, at 23:37 [local time] the eye witnesses saw a white light moving
through the skies which finally hit a mountain between the two communities of Tahnaout
and Ukaimiden. According to the same sources,
at the moment the object fell on the mountain a sound similar to thunder was heard
and the ground was felt slightly shaking.
Non metallic inclusion in a Tamdakht fragment's crust that produced
an ash grey, smooth textured fusion rind. A contraction crack is running through the feature.
Diameter of the structure is 11 mm.
An eye witness on night duty in Ait Ourir describes the alien object as a "crashing airplane" and
adds that he heard its sound when the object passed over his head.
This source also said that the event lasted three minutes until the body descended beyond
his sight towards Tahnaout.
An eye witness from Tahnaout described the body as a fire breathing
ball similar to a meteorite. According to this person, roofs of houses
and olive trees were illuminated in the area of Tahnaout which caused
terror and fear among the inhabitants who feared a catastrophe coming
upon them. This was particularly true as they heard the
explosions and as they felt the earth shaking in the moment of the impact.
No source or eye witness was able to name exactly where the object
had crashed, nor if the object crashing at the mountain
poses a threat to area. No fire or smoke was seen after the crash and
there is no official source confirming or denying the incident.
The president of the amateur astronomers of Morocco, Abdelhamid
Touma, rejected the idea that part of on asteroid fell on earth.
In his conversation with "Al Masah" (The Evening") he explained
that instead friction of a meteroid entering the earth's atmosphere was responsible
for the incident. He also rejects the idea that the event was caused
by a foreign spy drone, an unmanned recon airplane crashing or an alien UFO
from another planet.
Sucessful meteorite finder M. Aid with a 2kg specimen of the Tamdakht meteorite. The snow covered
peak of the Jebel Anrhomer can be seen in the distance
Similar incident in Tunesia
In its issue of last Sunday the newspaper "Al Scharuq Al Tunisia" reports
that a number of inhabitants of Al Kairawan witnessed a shaking of the ground
after they had seen a white light traversing the sky that was followed by smoke.
This occurred in a part of Kairawan at the 18th this month at a quarter to six
in the evening.
30.20g fragment of the Tamdakht meteorite with chondrules and heat affected zone under the fusion crust
According to the newspaper some inhabitants of the area thought
the incident was caused by a thunderstorm, some by a crashing airplane, some
thought a rocket to be responsible. However the exact location of the impact is
unknown to present. According to the National Meteorological Institute
of Tunesia it was a cosmic body that fell on the country and the institute is trying
hard to locate its point of impact.
The scientific plan to protect our earth from such cosmic bodies
Early this month a group of scientists demanded from the UNO that
the organisation should put a network into space that tracks such cosmic
bodies with a potentially dangerous course. This protective network
should be capable to destroy dangerous asteroids with spaceships or
to deflect their course. Although the probability of a collision is
minor, the scientists are careful because even a collision with a
small asteroid would have disastrous consequences. This report was
published in the British newspaper Daily Telegraph.
