* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Weston meteorite

Blobrana · L

Historical Society to celebrate meteor's fall
Seen any magnetised rocks in your back yard lately? If so, you are in possession of a small piece of Easton history.
The Historical Society of Easton is celebrating this year the 200th anniversary of the fall of the Weston meteorite, an event that has remained a scientific and historical subject of inquiry since before Easton was Easton.
On Dec. 14, 1807, several local residents of unimpeachable reputation recalled seeing a fireball in the sky and hearing several loud booms. It was the first recorded meteorite impact in North America.

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Blobrana · L

It's a 2

ound rock, coloured grey and brown, the kind you might stumble across on a hike through an old New England quarry.
But there's a lot of historical significance to the chunk of stone, which was plucked from an Easton field in this rural town and placed on permanent display at the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University in New Haven.
It is believed to be the first recorded meteorite to hit the United States. The find was so earth-shaking at the time that President Thomas Jefferson was skeptical.
Members of the Easton Historical Society have been thinking about the stone a lot these days, because Dec. 14 will mark the 200th anniversary of when it blazed out of the northern sky in the pre-dawn hours and exploded over Easton.

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Photo of the Weston meteorite which is on display at the Yale-Peabody Museum in New Haven. It is called the Weston meteorite because it was found in Weston which, at that time (1807), included lands now defined as Easton.
Credit Tracy Deer/Connecticut Post