First meteorite found in UK for 30 years – and it could hold secrets of how life began

When a family fast asleep in the Cotswolds were woken by an almighty thud, they could never have known that the object causing it may be the key to discovering how life formed on Earth.

The 300g rock on their driveway that made the noise was the first meteorite to be found in the UK for 30 years. It landed after falling through the air as a fireball.

Surveying the unusual object outside their home, the family guessed it was rather special, and summoned scientists from the Natural History Museum to investigate. Experts are now studying the meteorite, which was seen by people on the ground as a fireball lighting up the sky.

The meteorite is a rare type called a carbonaceous chondrite, which has been known to contain organic compounds and amino acids – ingredients for life.

Because of this, it could be a crucial tool in unlocking the secrets to how life began on Earth, and the early history of our solar system.

Researchers are delighted with its condition, making it ideal to study. Because it was handled so carefully by those who found it, and they alerted scientists so quickly after its fall, it is comparable to the samples returned from space missions, both in quality and size.

The family, who do not want to be named, found 300g of the meteorite, which survived its fiery passage through the Earth’s atmosphere and landed on their driveway in the small Cotswold town of Winchcombe.

Dr Richard Greenwood, Research Fellow in Planetary Sciences at the Open University, was the first scientist to identify and advise on the meteorite.

He said: “I was in shock when I saw it and immediately knew it was a rare meteorite and a totally unique event. It’s emotional being the first one to confirm to the people standing in front of you that the thud they heard on their driveway overnight is in fact the real thing.”

It is now easier to find meteorites, seen as fireballs in the sky, because of a group of scientists called the UK Fireball Alliance. They were able to use citizen science videos of the fireball, as well as their own cameras, to pinpoint the area the meteorite likely landed, and alert the local community to look for fragments.

More meteorite pieces have now been found in the Cotswolds since the driveway discovery.

This meteorite is a rare find; there are approximately 65 thousand known meteorites on Earth. Of these, only 51 of them are carbonaceous chondrites. This is the first known carbonaceous chondrite to have been found in the UK, and the first meteorite recovered in the UK in 30 years. The last meteorite that was discovered in the UK was the Glatton meteorite that landed in a residential garden in 1991.

Over 1,000 meteorites the size of a football are believed to fall to Earth every year, however it is rare for any of them to be seen to fall and recovered.

Prof Sara Russell, Merit Researcher in Cosmic Mineralogy at the museum has been tasked with analysing the rock before it deteriorates. She told The Telegraph that the mission was a race against time, explaining: “In the first instance, we will send a piece of the meteorite to Imperial College, where the organics will be characterised by mass spectrometry. The carbon and nitrogen isotopes of organic material will be analysed at the Open University also. It is important these measurements are made quite quickly as the meteorite will be easily terrestrially contaminated.”

Carbonaceous chondrites are known as the most primitive and pristine materials of the solar system and can provide unique information on where water and the building blocks of life were formed and what planets are made from.

Dr Luke Daly, from the University of Glasgow, who co-leads the UK Fireball Network, said said: “It’s thanks to this international collaboration, including researchers as far away as Australia, that we were able to calculate where this meteorite landed so quickly and with such accuracy, as well as where it originated from in the asteroid belt, a rarity that can be said of only about 40 of the 65,000 meteorites on Earth. Goodwill and teamwork have produced a stellar result.”

The team believe that more fragments may yet be discovered, and has urged people in the Cotswolds to keep an eye out for black stones or piles of tiny rocks. The rocks are fragile so locals are asked to take a photograph and record their location, before carefully collecting the sample using a gloved hand and contacting the Natural History Museum.