Top 10 Most Interesting Meteorites Found on Earth

You don't have to be a geologist or a space nerd to find meteorites fascinating. They're basically nature's time capsules, hand-delivered from the void. Some are older than Earth itself, forged in cosmic furnaces long before the solar system was even a thing. Others made a dramatic entrance, exploding into fireballs that lit up the sky and made headlines before anyone even figured out what they were.

Some are scientifically priceless. A few contain minerals and isotopes never before seen on Earth, and others even hold microscopic grains that predate the sun. Then there are the flashy types. A few rare meteorites contain peridot or other gemstones, giving them an eye-catching sparkle that would make a jeweler sweat.

And let's not forget about size. Some of these bad boys weigh more than a car. Others are small enough to carry in your pocket, assuming you've got a strong pocket. But what really gets people talking are the stories. A chunk of metal that came screaming through the atmosphere and crashed through a car, a roof, or a backyard? That's not just space debris. That's a cosmic event with a front row seat.

So which meteorites really deserve the spotlight? That's where you come in. Vote for the ones that you think stand out, maybe because they helped unlock scientific mysteries, dazzled with their appearance, or just had a truly wild trip to Earth.

The Top Ten

The Fukang Meteorite

It was found in China and, as of 2019, is the most expensive meteorite ever offered, valued at €1.7 million.
It contains peridot, a yellow-green gem (the bright spots you see in the image). The peridot grains are quite large and are set in a dark matrix of iron and nickel. This meteorite is thought to be 4.5 billion years old, the age of our planet. It's also quite large, as you can see.

This meteorite looks awesome. The guy in the photo is lucky because he got to hold that big thing. I really wish I had this meteorite.

Pretty cool.
The Willamette Meteorite

It's a very large metal meteorite. It weighed more than 16 tonnes when found in 1902 in Oregon, U.S. It consists of iron and nickel only, with no gems.
It probably originated from the core of asteroids or planetesimals that collided with another object. The meteorite has a striking, perhaps even scary, appearance, suggesting a tumultuous journey through space.
It's the third most expensive meteorite ever offered, valued at €851,000.
The Chelyabinsk Meteorite

It fell in 2013 in Chelyabinsk, Russia. There are several interesting aspects:
1. Its fall was witnessed.
2. Its fall was documented - there are many pictures and videos available.
3. One unfortunate fact is that it is the only meteorite to have injured large numbers of people. Over 1,500 people needed medical treatment that day.
4. Its explosion over Chelyabinsk was documented. The explosion generated a bright flash, produced a large shock wave, a hot cloud of dust and gas, and many surviving small fragmentary meteorites.
The Gibeon Meteorite

There are 33 fragments of the meteorite found in 1838 in Namibia. It's an iron meteorite composed of an iron-nickel alloy (92% iron).
In the image, you see one of the fragments. I chose this particular fragment because it resembles Edvard Munch's famous painting "The Scream." This meteorite fragment could be confused with a modern sculpture on display in a gallery of modern art.
It fell in Namibia in prehistoric times and has an estimated value of €280,000, making it the 10th most expensive meteorite ever offered.
The Krasnojarsk Meteorite

It's interesting for its high scientific value, gems, and mass. It fell in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia, and was the first pallasite meteorite ever found and studied. Pallasite is a stony-iron meteorite, a type of meteorite that often contains gems, usually peridot.
The Krasnojarsk Meteorite was detected in 1749, but its analysis began in 1772, thanks to Peter Simon Pallas. Pallas was a Prussian zoologist and botanist who worked in Russia. He was invited by Catherine II of Russia to become a professor at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, and he led expeditions to many Russian provinces.
In 1772, Pallas was shown a 680-kg lump of metal near Krasnoyarsk. The analysis showed it to be a new type of stony-iron meteorite. The Pallasite group of meteorites was named after him. This meteorite was used to demonstrate the reality of meteorite falls on Earth, which were at the time considered fairy tales by most scientists.
The meteorite's main mass of 515 kilograms (1,134 lb) is in Moscow, at the Fersman Mineralogical Museum, Russian Academy of Sciences. A slice of the meteorite is at the American Museum of Natural History.
The Springwater Meteorite

It's another pallasite meteorite with peridot in it and is the 5th most expensive meteorite ever offered up, at €511,000.
It was found in Canada in 1931.
"This type of meteorite [pallasite] is from the core-mantle boundary of an ancient planetoid that was smacked apart billions of years ago. The metal is iron/nickel core material and the crystals are peridot from the mantle area. At the interface, they mix together." - Wiki
The Brenham Meteorite

It is a stony-iron meteorite with gemstones, specifically peridot. When cut and polished, it shows yellowish olivine (peridot) crystals. It fell in Kansas, US, probably about 20,000 years ago.
The Brenham Meteorite has several fragments, and the largest one (the main mass) weighs 650 kilograms (1,430 lb). As of 2019, the main mass of the Brenham Meteorite is valued at €896,000, making it the second most expensive meteorite.
The Campo del Cielo Meteorite

A large and old iron meteorite with many fragments found in Argentina. One of its fragments (Gancedo) is the third-largest meteorite on Earth. Another fragment (El Chaco) is the fourth-largest meteorite on Earth (as shown in the image).
The craters containing iron masses were reported in 1576 but were already well-known to the aboriginal people living in the area. The craters' estimated age is 4,000-5,000 years. The crater field has at least 26 craters, the largest being 115 by 91 meters (377 by 299 ft).
The Esquel Meteorite

It contains large grains of gem-quality peridot in a matrix of iron and nickel. In the image, you see a slice of the meteorite, not the entire piece.
The Esquel Meteorite was found in 1951 in Argentina and weighed about 700 kg. It was once part of a planet or another large body in our solar system that had a metallic core and a rocky mantle.
The Imilac Meteorite

A stony-iron meteorite with the gem peridot, found in Chile in 1822. It's highly prized for its high concentration of beautiful olivine (peridot) grains.

The Newcomers

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The Allende Meteorite
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The Cape York Meteorite

One of its fragments, called Ahnighito, is the third largest meteorite ever found, weighing 31 tons and composed of iron. A more interesting fact is that it fell in Greenland, and the Inuit living near the fragments used the metal for tools and harpoons long before 1894.

The Contenders

The Zagami Meteorite

It is the largest meteorite from Mars discovered on Earth to date. It fell in Nigeria in 1962.
The Hoba Meteorite

The largest meteorite of any kind on Earth, as of 2019. It was discovered in Namibia in 1920. It's composed of iron and nickel and weighs about 60 tonnes.
The Mbozi Meteorite

The name sounds funny to me, and the meteorite looks like an animal, perhaps a turtle. Mbozi is a large and heavy iron meteorite weighing about 16 metric tons. As of 2019, it is the eighth largest meteorite on Earth. It was found in 1930 in Tanzania.
The Conception Junction Meteorite

Another rare meteorite with gem peridot, found in Missouri, US. It's the fourth most expensive meteorite as of 2019.
The Bacubirito Meteorite
The Dar al Gani 1058 Meteorite

It came from the Moon and fell in Libya in 1998.