The Mbozi Meteorite
On a hillside in Tanzania sits a 16-tonne iron meteorite that local people long knew and left alone.
What was reported
The Mbozi meteorite is a mass of iron and nickel about 3 metres long and weighing around 16 tonnes, one of the largest meteorites in the world. It lies on a hillside in south-western Tanzania and was reported to scientists by a land surveyor in 1930.
Local people had long known of it, calling it kimondo, and it was treated with respect and left undisturbed.
Explanations offered
It's an iron meteorite that fell long ago; no crater survives. In 1930 the soil around it was dug away, leaving it standing on a plinth of earth that was later built up in stone, and it's now a protected site.
- When
- Reported to science in 1930
- Where
- Mbozi, Songwe, Tanzania
- Witnesses
- Local people, then a land surveyor
- 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.