The Murchison Meteorite
A fireball over a small Australian town scattered stones that turned out to contain the building blocks of life, and grains of dust older than the Sun.
What was reported
Late on the morning of 28 September 1969, people in Murchison, Victoria, saw a fireball split into pieces and heard a loud bang. Stones fell across the area, some through roofs, and one into a haystack. Residents noticed they smelled strongly of methylated spirits.
More than 100 kg of fragments were collected. Because it was gathered so quickly, it reached scientists unusually free of contamination.
Explanations offered
Studies found it contains amino acids and many other organic compounds formed in space. In 2020, scientists reported that some of its tiny grains are stardust from before the Sun was born, the oldest solid material known on Earth, possibly up to 7 billion years old.
- When
- 28 September 1969
- Where
- Murchison, Victoria, Australia
- Witnesses
- Residents of Murchison
- 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.