The Dhajala Meteorite Shower
One January night in 1976, a fireball brighter than the full moon exploded over Gujarat, and hundreds of stones rained down on the villages below.
What was reported
On the night of 28 January 1976, people across the Saurashtra region of Gujarat saw a fireball much brighter than the full moon, ending in a flash and two loud explosions. Stones fell over an area about 18 km long around the village of Dhajala.
Villagers and scientists collected hundreds of fragments, more than 60 kg in all, the largest weighing about 12 kg.
Explanations offered
Dhajala is an ordinary stony meteorite of a rare, little-altered type. Because so many fragments were found and their positions mapped, scientists used it to study how meteoroids break up in the atmosphere. The main mass is held by the Geological Survey of India.
- When
- 28 January 1976
- Where
- Dhajala, Surendranagar, Gujarat, India
- Witnesses
- Villagers across Saurashtra
- Status
- Confirmed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.