Winchcombe Meteorite: A Mysterious Space Visitor To The UK

2nd Oct 2024

Meteorites are constant guests of our planet. Scientists have found that over a million of these space aliens fly to Earth every year, but only a few survive contact with the atmosphere and reach the surface. This article will tell the story of the Winchcombe meteorite, which fell in the UK in February 2021 and became the first space guest in the UK in the last 30 years.

Where Did The Winchcombe Meteorite Fall?

A space alien crashed in Winchcombe town, Gloucestershire, England, at 21.57 GMT on Sunday, February 28, 2021. The object entered the Earth’s atmosphere and burned up, leaving a bright trail in the evening sky. Thousands of people reported seeing a bright flash in the sky.

Winchcombe Meteorite captured on CCTV from Hull

The moment of the fall was also recorded by six special Fireball Alliance cameras and numerous doorbell cameras in private homes. Analysis of the camera recordings and eyewitness accounts helped to establish the approximate area of the debris fall, which facilitated their further search.

Within a few hours of the unexpected visit, local residents started finding blackened rock fragments in the area. The first ones to find the meteorite were Frank Wilcock’s family. They heard a loud crash outside their window but did not dare to leave their home straight away. Only in the morning did they find several rock fragments weighing a total of 319 grammes on their driveway, which they collected into a plastic bag and took to London for analysis.

Rob, Cathryn and Hannah Wilcock on the drive where the meteorite came to earth. Credit: winchcombe.co.uk

More fragments were found in the following days, including the largest stone, weighing 152 grams (5.4 ounces), but it broke into two pieces when it was picked up. The total weight of the found stones was 602 grams (21.2 ounces).

All Winchcombe meteorite remains were catalogued at the Natural History Museum in London (NHM) and then sent to laboratories around the world for further study.

Is Winchcombe A Meteorite? What Scientists Have Discovered

fragment of the Winchcombe meteorite — A 1.2 gram fragment of the meteorite showing the fusion crust – the outer surface which briefly melts as the rock hurtles through the earth’s atmosphere . (Copyright Rob Wilcock)

The British alien is, without a doubt, a meteorite. Since the Wilcocks picked up and isolated the fragments 12 hours after the fall, they had hardly had time to absorb any of the Earth’s water or other local elements, allowing for the most accurate analysis. So what did the scientists find out?

The rock fragments turned out to be carbonaceous chondritic breccias, the most common type of meteorite in the solar system (author’s note: breccia is a piece of rock that has been compressed under pressure to form a new rock). UK space visitor is a carbonaceous chondrite of the CM class, consisting of 10-15% water bound in hydrosilicates and 10-30% pyroxene and olivine in the chondrules.

The share of water in the Winchcombe meteorite was found to be about 11%, and in terms of composition and the ratio of different types of hydrogen atoms, it proved to be virtually indistinguishable from Earth’s water. This supports the theory that the key chemical components contributing to the emergence of life were brought to Earth from space billions of years ago.

The analysis also revealed unexpectedly high levels of carbonate materials such as aragonite, calcite, and dolomite, suggesting that the meteorite’s parent asteroid once contained large amounts of carbon dioxide ice. Some event, perhaps a collision, melted this ice and allowed it to chemically alter the rock to form carbonates. But that’s not all the secrets the British alien brought to Earth.

The latest studies, conducted in January 2024, revealed the presence of organic molecules, including amino acids, in the breccias. These molecules are precursors to more complex amino acids, which play an important role in biological processes. Scientists from the Institute of Mineralogy at the University of Münster used a modern high-resolution electron microscope to identify these compounds without chemical treatment. This discovery confirms that the space visitor contains life-building blocks that have survived since the very beginning of the Solar System, that is, they are about 4.5 billion years old!

Was The Winchcombe Smashed Apart Before It Reached The Surface?

Yes. Before reaching Earth, the meteorite literally went through seven circles of hell in harsh space conditions, which is indicated by the strong fragmentation of breccias. Scientists from the University of Glasgow explained this by the fact that the parent asteroid repeatedly broke up and reformed, presumably due to collisions with other asteroids. Somewhere between Mars and Jupiter, a small piece broke off from the parent asteroid and rushed towards Earth, continuing to undergo changes. Water played a large role in this process, turning the meteorite into a lump of mud, which was destroyed and reassembled again and again.

How Much Is The Winchcombe Worth?

Carbonate chondrites can be worth up to $1,000 per gram, depending on their condition and origin. 600 grams of stones found at Winchcombe were valued at around $140,000. And one of the shards sold at auction for 120 times more than if it had been pure gold.

Who Owns The Winchcombe Meteorite?

There is no specific law in the UK governing the ownership of meteorites that have fallen on private property. However, as a general rule, meteorites found on private property belong to the owner of that property. This means that if a rock from outer space falls on your land, you own it. However, most residents, in particular the Wilcock family who found the largest fragments, chose to make their find available to science and the public. And we should thank them for this!

Where Is The Space Visitor Now?

meteorite in the Winchcombe Museum — Winchcombe Museum now has a room dedicated to the meteorite and its story. Credit: BBC

The main fragments are still kept at the Natural History Museum in London, where they are used for scientific studies and public display. Other fragments are also on display at the Winchcombe Museum and Wilson Gallery in Cheltenham, where they were submitted by Rob, Catherine, and Hannah Wilcock, who wanted to share the meteorite with local communities. The Winchcombe Museum now has a wonderful exhibition that tells the story of the Winchcombe meteorite’s arrival to Earth, its origins, and scientific significance. Be sure to visit these places.