Search continues for meteor fragment ‘smaller than an orange’ in the Cotswolds

About 50 tonnes of extra-terrestrial material estimated to enter Earth’s atmosphere each year, but most are sand-sized particles known as cosmic dust

The search is on for a tiny fragment of asteroid that fell to Earth on Sunday which scientists believe may have landed in Gloucestershire.

Modelling suggests the extra-terrestrial rock, which lit up the skies over the UK when it hurtled through the atmosphere in a “spectacular yellow-green fireball”, sending a sonic boom across southern England, is on farmland somewhere north of Cheltenham.

It is believed to be dark, shiny and smaller than an orange.

Members of the public searching for the interplanetary rock are urged not to touch it or put it close to any magnets.

Dr Katherine Joy, of the University of Manchester, said: “If you do find a meteorite on the ground, ideally photograph it in place, note the location using your phone GPS, don't touch it with a magnet, and, if you can, avoid touching it with your hands.”

The UK Fireball Alliance (UKFAll) said the fireball was observed from as far away as Ireland and the Netherlands while the UK Meteor Network said the rock was understood to have landed somewhere between Swindon Village and the Cotswold parish of Bourton-on-the-Hill – a 20 mile stretch of countryside northeast of Cheltenham.

Local resident Mark, who did not give a surname, told Gloucestershire Live he believed the tiny fragment landed close to the River Severn.

He said: “I was stood out the back of the house facing the River Severn having a cigarette when this thunderbolt of light came across from left to right.

”It was that low that I thought it was a large display firework, then it split in what looked three stars, can't see how it would have reached north Cheltenham as it was so low, I was convinced it would not of got any further than the A38.“

About 50 tonnes of extra-terrestrial material is estimated to enter Earth’s atmosphere each year, but most are sand-sized particles known as cosmic dust.

“Even over a relatively small land area like the UK, about twenty meteorites probably land each year. Most are barely the size of a sugar cube,” said Dr Sarah McMullan of UKFAll.

“However, two or three are bigger, and that’s probably the case with this one. Every few years a much bigger one will arrive.”

Dr Luke Daly of the University of Glasgow and UKFAll said Sunday’s meteor “fragmented a lot” with “most of the meteoroid vapourised during the six seconds of visible flight”.

He said: “However, with this one we think quite a few fragments probably reached the ground. If pieces landed, they are likely to have been on or just north of Cheltenham, out towards Stow-on-the-Wold. So most pieces are likely to be on farmland.”

UKFAll has released a map showing likely fall locations, which will be updated as the computer model is refined.

A day earlier, on Saturday, a fireball lasting slightly more than 5 seconds was reported by more than 80 witnesses across France.

According to the Fireball Recovery and InterPlanetary Observation Network (Fripon), whose video network captured the event, the fireball was caused by a 500g meteoroid arriving from “external parts of the asteroid belt” at a speed of 21 kilometres a second.

Fripon calculated around 150g of meteorites may have survived the journey, landing east of the village of Aiguillon in southwest France.