Calgary Rock and Lapidary Club
Lapidary Journal

ROCKS FROM OUTER SPACE

The Story of the Bruderheim Meteorite
by Stan Walker

A meteorite is a meteor which has survived the heat of friction when passing through the earth’s atmosphere. A meteor is a fragment of an asteroid of comet resulting from collisions in outer space.

3 Types of Meteorites:

1. Stony (Bruderheim) consists of silicate minerals and some iron 90% MgFe,Si02.
2. Iron or Metal type with a small percentage of the stony variety.
3. Stony-Iron: usually composed of almost equal parts of type 1 and type 2.

Number one and three types, when heated by the friction of the earth’s atmosphere, usually detonate or explode. The heat of friction is a result of the speed of 8-10 miles per second of most meteors passing through the earth’s atmosphere.

At 1:06 AM, march 4, 1960, the Bruderheim created a white light visible for a 200 mile radius. A few seconds later, the sonic boom of the detonation was heard for a radius of 50 miles. The following morning the news on the radio and TV all carried this occurrence. Being Friday, I asked my boss for the afternoon off to hunt for the meteorite. He told me I had about as much hope of finding it as a snowball in hell. At 8:00 AM, I talked to the midnight shift workers who said the bolide was traveling in a NE direction from Ft. Saskatchewan. That afternoon, I traveled 30 miles north to Redwater, AB. Talking to residents there who said the meteorite was traveling in an Easterly direction. Another 30 miles north to the town of Thorhild where people were sure it was traveling in a SE direction. At least I had a bearing on the fall area.

That afternoon, a radio report told of a farmer in that general area who had brought a black rock into town for identification. As soon as I heard ‘black rock’, I knew it was part of the meteorite. Taking a young man from our local rock club, Saturday morning at daybreak we were knocking at the farmer’s door for permission to hunt on his property. It was -10º F and there was 6 inches of snow.

The report from the University of Alberta in Edmonton gave the following information: “At a height of about 30 miles the meteorite entered the earth’s atmosphere and continued on course to a point about 16 miles above the earth where it detonated. This travel generated a white light seen for a 200 mile radius, followed a few seconds later by a sonic boom heard for a radius of 50 miles. The resulting fragments continued on course for approximately 25 miles before falling to earth, the largest pieces traveling the furthest because of their momentum and finally striking the earth at approximately 200 miles/hour.”

On cultivated land, the snow was only 3 inches deep, and small pieces of the meteorite spewed up dirt on top of the snow and were quite conspicuous at 100 years. Traveling the country roads Saturday and Sunday we were able to pick up a total of 15 pieces ranging in size from ash to 47 pounds, with a final total of 155 pounds. The actual fallout was an elliptical pattern 2 ½ miles by 3 ¼ miles scattered over 4 square miles of land. The following Monday, the snowfall obliterated any further traces of the meteorite until the snow melted some 3 weeks later.

The following Tuesday morning, the gathering at my place comprised the Department of Geology from the University of Alberta, representatives from radio, TV and newspaper, the Royal Astronomical Society, and my immediate boss. They all wanted a piece of the meteorite. It was agreed by the University and ourselves that:

1. the largest piece would go to the Edmonton planetarium for permanent display,
2. one piece would be donated to the Ft. Saskatchewan High School,
3. two pieces each to my partner and myself.

All this would occur after the university had completed their studies.

We had made a map of our findings on each quarter section of land. We had also taken some pictures. For our pictures, our map, and our material, the university paid us $500.

Meteorites are the poor man’s space probe. They are samples of asteroids and comets delivered to our door. The University’s Geological department purchased all other pieces of the meteorite from the farm owner’s of the land. They attempted to reconstruct the total body. Because of 10% of the land being covered by bush, they were not successful in getting a complete stone. From their efforts, however, they estimated an overall total over 330 kilograms. This was the largest meteorite to fall in Canada for a number of years.

After testing, the University distributed samples of the meteorite to various Universities and research facilities throughout North America. As a result, the University of Berkeley, California, were able to extract Xenon gas from small pea-sized chondrules. Xenon existed at the time of the earth’s formation but does not exist on earth today, It is the product of radioactive decay. Following up on this discovery, they came to a close estimate of the age of the earth of 4.7 billion years.

In 1963, a similar meteorite fell in the Peace River area. In 1965, another one fell near Revelstoke, BC. In 1967, one fell in Vilna, Alberta, and in 1977, another in Innisfree, Alberta. Other falls have occurred during those years but have not been found. It would appear that Northern Alberta looks like Canada’s meteorite landing strip.