Belgians hunt for a meteorite: ‘The biting cold helps’

Belgians living west of Ghent are being urged to look out for a meteorite that may have fallen nearby on Tuesday. It was probably a blackish stone of perhaps half a kilogram, about the size of a fist.

The meteor was photographed last Tuesday at 5:37 pm by cameras in the Netherlands and Belgium. Based on the observed light path, the monitoring organization Freepon calculated that the remains may have ended up in an area ten by four kilometers.

“It can be seen through the clouds, which already indicates that it is dangerous,” Philippe Mollet of the Mira Observatory told Flemish broadcaster VRT.

He advises his countrymen to look at a black stone that is heavier than expected. “We now have an advantage with the extreme cold, because such a black stone stands out more.”

“I’m looking, but I haven’t found it yet,” says the mayor of Levegem, Kim Martins, where the stone may have ended up. He calls it looking for a needle in a haystack. “We are quite a sprawling rural community.”

In any case, the VRT film crew noted, residents are willing to contribute their ideas. A passerby says, “We heard something on our roof at night, but it just wouldn’t have happened. It could have been more noise.” “Half a kilo is a lot, isn’t it?”

Mayor Martens is now ready to make the search pay off. “I’ll think of a reward to give. The first one to come up with it you’ll be surprised.”