Meteorite fall (Eucrite?) near Rittman, Wayne County, Ohio, USA at 12:56:42 UTC on 17 March 2026
Last update: 4 April 2026 (13:05 CEST)
The first achondritic meteorite finds (eucrite?) were reported on 18 March 2026. After a first online report of a small 1.75-gram specimen found in a concrete parking lot in Sharon Center, Medina County, by Matt Perison, meteorite dealer Roberto Vargas reported having found a 12.2-gram fragment, which was then broken and sold in fragments. Many often fully-crusted and rather small masses have been found by different searchers so far. On 20 March Mark Sokol from New Jersey and friends found a larger mass weighing 509.9 grams, reportedly near location 40°57’37.9″N, 81°46’38.3″W, in a field south of Rittman, Wayne County. It was almost fully embedded in the soft soil of a field when found. The specimen is currently being analysed in a laboratory. On 24 March 2026 Jeff Makkos reports the find of a baseball-sized fully crusted specimen (308.1 g) in a field. It is still possible that a mass weighing around 84 kilograms could have impacted the ground around location 40°56’10.3″N, 81°52’01.2″W, although the radar signature may be erroneous. The site may still merit searching.
Jeff Makkos’s specimen (308.1 g) on 24 March 2026
Larger mass found by Jeff Makkos on 24 March 2026. Photos: Jeff Makkos
The cleaned meteorite mass. Photo: Jeff Makkos
Videos showing the excavation of the 308.1-gram meteorite. Videos: Jeff Makkos (24 March 2026)
Mark Sokol’s mass (509.9 grams) on 20 March 2026
The 509.9-gram mass in situ on 20 March 2026. Photo: Mark Sokol
Photos: Mark Sokol
Photo: Mark Sokol
Photos: Mark Sokol
Videos: Mark Sokol
The meteorite being analysed in the lab. Photo: Mark Sokol
Stephen Poterala’s reported 66-gram specimen. Photos: Stephen Poterala
Amy Jenkin’s 53-gram specimen in situ. Photo: Amy Jenkin
12.2-gram specimen in situ in Windfall. Photos: Roberto Vargas
12.2-gram specimen. Photos: Roberto Vargas
A second ‘spiky’ specimen found by Roberto Vargas. Photos: Roberto Vargas
Gabe Leidy’s specimen (11.1 g) on 18 March 2026
Oriented and fully-crusted 11.1-gram specimen found in Sharon Center by Gabe Leidy (39) from North Ridgeville, Ohio in the afternoon of 18 March 2026 after searching for about an hour and a half.
Specimen at find location. Photo: Gabe Leidy
Photos: Gabe Leidy
Trailing side of the beautiful oriented specimen. Photo: Gabe Leidy
Finding and first inspection of the specimen. Video: Gabe Leidy
Marcus Day’s find (23.1 g) on 29 March 2026
Photos: Marcus Day (29 March 2026)
James Martz’s 15.66-gram specimen in situ. Photo: James Martz
James Martz’s 15.66-gram specimen in situ. Photo: James Martz
Specimen in situ, found by Carl Dietrich. Photo: Carl Dietrich
Matt Perison’s 1.75-gram find
1.75-gram specimen found in a parking lot in Sharon Center, Medina County, Ohio by Matt Perison after he got out of his truck after lunch. It is the first find which was reported online on 18 March 2026. Because of this find it was obvious that an achondrite had fallen the day before.
1.75-gram specimen. Photo: Matt Perison (Opposite-Permission4)
1.75-gram specimen in situ. Photo: Matt Perison (Opposite-Permission4)
155-gram mass (probably found on 2 April 2026)
Photo: Filip Nikodem (3 April 2026)
69.4-gram mass (probably found on 2 April 2026)
Photo: Leon Thann (3 April 2026)
54.13-gram mass (found on 25 March 2026)
Photo: Leon Thann, Filip Nikodem
Calculated fall area (last update on 26 March 2026, restored to more precise original map)
NASA’s calculated fall area based on data from three weather radars, KCLE (Cleveland), the Cleveland airport radar TLVE, and KPBZ (Pittsburgh). Simplified estimate of where meteorites landed. Dark red is where 10kg meteorites landed IF they were produced, then 1kg (red), 100g (dark orange), 10g (light orange) and 1g (yellow). Image: NASA ARES meteorite falls
Composite image of weather radar signatures of falling meteorites. The blue-gray pixels are radar signatures of falling meteorites seen in weather radar imagery. View is straight down, total elapsed time is 12 minutes. Image: NASA
Bolide above Cleveland, Ohio, recorded by NOAA’s GOES-East ‘Geostationary Lightning Mapper'(GLM), a near-infrared optical detector, at 9:01 am ET (13:01 UTC) on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Image: NOAA GOES EAST)
Map showing the calculated trajectory (red line) as calculated from OhioSeis seismic stations, with symbols marking seismic stations that recorded the sonic boom. The seismic trajectory closely matches NASA’s satellite derived path. (Image: Ohio Geological Survey)
The nontectonic (non-earthquake) signal captured at stations in Chesterland, Chagrin River Park, Lake Erie Bluffs, and Red Brook Metropark. The signal reached each station at slightly different times depending on how far it was from the meteor’s path. Image: Ohio Seismic Network (OhioSeis)
The bolide
It is assumed that the meteoroid had a diameter of about 2 metres weighing around 6 metric tons. At the moment of the bolide’s brightest flare during fragmentation at an altitude of 45 km above location 41.2 N, 82.0 W the total radiated energy was 12.6^10 Joule and the calculated total impact energy was 0.37 kilotons.
Recorded near Youngstown, Ohio, near the Route 8211 interchange. Video: Matthew Nagel
Recorded from I-80 west bound near Grove City, Pennsylvania. Video: James Eaker
Olmsted Falls School district’s superintendent Dr. Jim Lloyd recorded the bolide with their bus garage camera. Video: Dr. Jim Lloyd
Video by Andrew Neuschaeffer, director of operations and customer relations at NBN Powder Packaging on Taylor Street in Elyria
Video: Jared Rackley / National Weather Service Pittburgh, PA
Bolide recorded from Stow in Ohio. Video: Kelly Wallin
In this security camera video the strong detonation boom can be heard. Video: Kyle Scheid
In this video the strong detonation boom can be heard. Video: Kyle Scheid
In this video the strong detonation boom can be heard. Video: Misty Klingmann
In this video the strong detonation boom can be heard in Berea. Video: ConnorO
In this video the strong detonation booms and rumbling can be heard above North Royalton, Ohio. Video: Ryan Connor (thenorthroyaltonnerd)
Detonation boom captured by the security camera of the Curtis family’s home on Pinewood Drive in Elyria.
The dogs’ (Cooper Jack and Biggie Smalls) reactions to the detonation boom in Fairview Park, Ohio. Detonation boom can be heard at 1:06 running time. Video: @MiniRetrie27785
Video: MuseBliss / Arby77
