Sikhote-Alin Meteorite | From The Largest Meteorite Shower Since The Beginning Of Civilization

Similar to lot 96, this meteorite originates from one of the most frightening natural phenomena ever experienced: the largest meteorite shower in thousands of years. Descending over Siberia's Sikhote-Alin Mountains at 10:30 AM on February 12, 1947, the enormous Sikhote-Alin fireball resulted in more than sixty tons of metallic meteorites raining down upon snowy terrain where Siberian Tigers roam at the eastern edge of the Asian continent. Multiple craters were created, trees were impaled and gratefully no one was injured as the epicenter of the impact was 60 kilometers from the closest village. There are two types of Sikhote-Alin meteorites: the gently scalloped specimens that broke free of the main mass in the upper atmosphere and acquired aerodynamic thumb prints and the jagged and twisted specimens that resulted from the low-altitude explosion described above. This is an example of the latter.

The shorn surface and rippling texture are a result of this specimen cleaving along a crystalline plane as it then sheared apart during the low altitude explosion prior to impacting Earth. The reverse did not tear along crystalline planes and is more rounded. A charcoal patina blankets the specimen along with platinum-hued accents and chrome highlights. One terrified observer likened the event to the unzipping of the sky, and the famous painting of the event captured by artist and eye-witness P. I. Medvedev was reproduced as a postage stamp issued by the Soviet government in 1957 to commemorate the impact’s 10^th anniversary — two of which also accompany this offering — a select example from the low altitude explosion of one of the most frightening meteorite showers of modern times.