"The sky is falling in" Mr. C. Licken

Iron meteorite:
part of the meteor that fell from the sky
 in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains in 1947

Tekite

Useful Definitions:

• Meteoroid - is a small piece of dust, rock, ice or metal moving through space. They range in size from a speck of dust but are smaller than an asteroid.
• Meteor - is a meteoroid that has entered the Earths atmosphere and burns brightly leaving a flaming tail and sometimes smoke. They are more commonly called 'Shooting Stars' or 'Falling Stars'. Most meteors will burn up completely in the atmosphere.
• Meteorite - is a meteor that has survived entry through the atmosphere and reached the Earths surface.

• Tektite - naturally occurring and once airborne glass ejected by explosive meteorite impact.

As finding a meteorite in the UK would be as nigh impossible as  the 'discovery of a needle in a haystack', the above specimens from my collection of rocks and fossils, were purchased from dealers. The piece of the iron meteorite was bought from a chap at a 'Star-party' in Norfolk UK and the tekite from a mineral shop, 'Fire and Ice', in Akaroa, New Zealand.  I suspect that the Tekite was originally found in Australia.  The Sikhote-Alin meteorite has a much more interesting history.

Location of Meteors fall
(Thanks to Wikipedia)

At around 10:30 AM  on February 12, 1947, eyewitnesses in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, Primorye, Soviet Union, observed a large bolide brighter than the Sun that came out of the north and descended at an angle of about 41 degrees. The bright flash and the deafening sound of the fall were observed for 300 kilometres (190 mi) around the point of impact not far from Luchegorsk and approximately 440 km (270 mi) northeast of Vladivostok. A smoke trail, estimated at 32 km (20 mi) long, remained in the sky for several hours.

As the meteorite, traveling at a speed of about 14 km/s (8.7 mi/s), entered the atmosphere, it began to break apart, and the fragments fell together. At an altitude of about 5.6 km (3.5 mi), the largest mass apparently broke up in a violent explosion.

"Infamy, infamy, they'e all got it in for me"!

I believe that on the day the meteor entered Russian air space, the Soviet Union's Southern Ocean Fleet was anchored in Vladivostok.  When 'Smokin' Joe Stalin heard about the large bang, he allegedly blamed 'Uncle Sam' and gave the order for nuclear retaliation.  Thankfully, the Soviet Union's military command was more considered in its approach and a wise delay in launching an attack on the 'West' enabled the 'Big Bang' to be attributed to a natural phenomena.  I like to think that this story is more manufactured than true but Uncle Joe was not known for his warm heart and patience.  When Toot and I visited the 'Political Museum' in St Petersburgh, we were very much impressed by the honesty and openness with which Stalin's era was described and portrayed.  Many museums we have visited in the UK and in other cities around the world, have been much more partisan in their treatment of conflict and political themes.  What much improved times we live in!!