Ordinary Chondrite | H5-6 
Observed Fall - 8/19/2020
Brazil - Santa Filomena
MetBull Entry

Santa Filomena Story - by Mario Ramos

It was morning of the 19th, August 2020, approximately, 8:30 am. The sky was cloudless. Suddenly there was a big explosion leaving a trail of smoke and a white ball in the sky was seen heading towards the city of Santa Filomena. Frightened, the people of Santa Filomena did not know what was happening, Some residents came to say that it had been a plane that had exploded, but the local news immediately reported that in some homes and other places, pieces of stone had fallen from the sky.  News of the event was quickly on the pages of the main social networks, a meteorite had fallen.

At the time of the explosion, I was inside my residence. I heard the explosion as if the gates of the local businesses were slammed closed all at once. Not long after, I felt a shock as if I had hit the ground. Though we all felt it, it was't possible to pinpoint the exact location where it had been. The next day our small town began to fill with Brazilian researchers, collectors, meteorite hunters, and buyers from various places around the world.

About five days later, a friend and neighbor of my property, who was in the countryside at the time, reported to me that he had heard a huge crash and a shock like the ground was shaking.  We agreed I should search, even though I knew there was only a remote possibility of finding even a fragment. Most of the stones and the explosions seemed to be nearly nine kilometers away in Santa Filomena. I started to search, laughing at myself that I was half insane for even trying!

The first day I started searching the open fields, but I didn't find anything. The second day I continued in the same way, even more pessimistic not really believing that I could find it.  The area was very large, very mountainous and difficult to cutoff regions, that made it difficult to search. Without any initial success, I thought to myself "I will only do this two more days". The next day I searched until I was totally exhausted. I couldn't give up, working through the coldest hours of dusk, and into the next morning, I became determined, even taking a picture with a random stone on my shoulder, simulating that I had found the meteorite.

I arrived home so tired and discouraged, that I didn't even mention anything to my wife. I just said that it would only be two more days, Friday and Saturday. I got up early, made coffee, put water in the bottle, and went back to the bed to whisper that I was going.

The sun hadn’t fully come out there yet, and I was looking inside a closed, prickly bush. It was already 8 AM, and I was already at my limit with more than 3 hours walking. I thought to myself, "I’m going a little further..." and then I left in another direction. I began looking for the best way to go back, and there it was. I looked down and saw a hole. It seemed to have a hump... or was it a stone?

I looked again, and as I ran towards it I could see it was a meteorite. When I finally I knelt and touched it, thanking God for the emotional moment. I tried lifting the huge stone out of the ground, but it was totally embedded in the earth and would not budge.

After some work, I was able to remove it from the ground. The stone was large and heavy. I was approximately two kilometers from where I had left my motorcycle.

I put the meteorite on my shoulder and walked the distance. My tiredness was immense. I didn't have the courage to leave it and go back and get help, but my excitement got me through the pain. After two hours, I made it back to the bike.

Mario Ramos w/ Main Mass of Santa Filomena Meteorite

It was a very exciting moment when I finally arrived to my house. I took the stone to the living room in a sack, saying, "I have a pumpkin", but upon touching the floor the stone made a noise like an iron hitting the ground, and my wife immediately realized that I had found the meteorite. She began to cry with joy.

Top Meteorite is excited to be working with Mr. Ramos to offer this exceptional Main Mass of the Santa Filomena meteorite for sale.

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