Description
On september 2, 2015, a meteorite fell in the east of Turkey, in the Kurdistan, near the village of Sarıçiçek (to be pronounced Sari-chi-chek). A security camera from a restaurant filmed the meteorite that was also observed in many cities (Bingöl, Elazığ, Muş, Diyarbakır, Tunceli, Erzurum, etc …). NASA determined that the bolide had a diameter of about 20 inches and that it exploded at an altitude of about 25 miles.
Mehmet Nezir Ergün, a villager from Sarıçiçek said that « the village was entirely covered with a very powerful light beam. The village was lit up like daylight. We first thought it was an armed attack because it looked like it. We heard noise on the roofs of houses. We did not understand what was happening. Then the next morning we saw that the meteor had fallen over the roofs of our
homes. »
Mr. Ergün has searched on the internet and said: « I talked to a professor from the University of Bingöl. He said that there was no expert in their university. The teacher called one of his friends who told him that the stones could be dangerous and that we should not touch them. But the village children had already started to pick them up. And me too. Since these stones come from space, I was curious to know what odors they had. We do not know if these stones are dangerous. We expect that officials are studying the phenomenon. »
More than 200 specimens were collected during the first weeks after the fall. Professor Peter Jenniskens (SETI Institute) visited Turkey to participate in the research as part of a Turkish consortium created for this celestial event with many institutions like the University of Istanbul, for example. Part of the findings was given to NASA, another part to the Istanbul University and the other members of the consortium and many specimens have been on the market from the end of October 2015 at the Munich Mineral Fair.
Main mass weighs 1420 grams.
