Matamoros, H6

This 30.4 kilogram stone came from just South of the border, near the town of Matamoros.  The owner posted some photos to a facebook group for meteorite enthusiasts, asking if they could confirm that it was a meteorite.  He received mixed responses, despite posting the images you see below.  Luckily, some of the group members pursued it, and the owner was kind enough to remove a sample, which he sent to UCLA for analysis.

The stone was classified as an H6 S3 W2 by Dr. Alan Rubin, and it is currently pending approval.  The mass is complete, minus the specimen removed for analysis.  I’ll include the bulletin write-up here once it’s approved.

Unfortunately, Matamoros and its surroundings are notorious for ongoing drug cartel conflicts and kidnappings.  Scouting out the area will have to wait.

While putting together the write-up for this stone, I realized that it might be a piece of a witnessed fall from the 1970s. El Paso de Aguila was a 17 kilogram H5 reported to have fallen in November of 1977, approximately seven miles due South of where Matamoros was found.

El Paso de Aguila is classified as an H5, not an H6, but the analytical data are very similar.  Unfortunately, a side-by-side sample comparison would be needed to support or rule out a pairing, and I doubt that this will be possible.  The weathering of Matamoros is certainly in line with a stone that has been left outside for ~35 years in the Gulf.  Compare it to specimens of, say, Gao. I don’t know that we’ll ever be able to resolve the question, but it’s interesting.

Here are some more recent images of this 30 kg stone, human for scale.
This stone might be on display at UCLA soon — stay tuned.