Scientists have asked residents of Staffordshire to keep an eye out for meteorite fragments that may have landed in the area after a fireball was seen in the sky on May 6. The UK Fireball Alliance (UKFAll) estimates that a 500g meteorite fell in an area southeast of Stoke-on-Trent. Scientists have asked locals not to handle any fragments they find with their bare hands, as this could contaminate the samples.
Teams from several universities have already combed fields around Blythe Bridge and Uttoxeter in search of the meteorite, which is thought to be between 5-10cm wide and black or brown in colour. It may have a glassy outer surface. Thus far no discovery has been made. UKFAll has asked people to be cautious while searching and not to risk entering hazardous areas.
Richard Baggaley, the chairman of a greenhouse manufacturing plant in Cresswell, the village at the search’s epicentre, said that scientists from Glasgow University had contacted him in the wake of the meteorite’s fall. Baggaley expressed his excitement at the prospect of such a rare event happening so close to his business and home. UKFAll and the Natural History Museum have asked anyone who suspects they have found the meteorite to contact them
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