At 6:30 on the morning of December 14, 1807, a blazing fireball about two-thirds the size of the moon was seen traveling southwards by early risers in Vermont and Massachusetts. Three loud explosions were heard over the town of Weston in Fairfield County, Connecticut. Stone fragments fell in at least 6 places.

Several large stones, including one of about 200 pounds (91 kilograms), had been smashed to bits on the rocky ground. Others were smashed by the finders: “Strongly impressed with the idea that these stones contained gold and silver, they subjected them to all the tortures of ancient alchemy, and the goldsmith’s crucible, the forge, and the blacksmith’s anvil, were employed in vain to elicit riches which existed only in the imagination.”

Adapted from “The Peabody Museum Meteorite Collection: A Historic Account” by Barbara L. Narendra. 1978. Discovery 13(1):10–23.

– altered by Hystoria