OF THE
TIMES
W.F. Hume, minister of the Geological Survey of Egypt, began taking eyewitness statements, and two months later published his report, "The First Meteorite Record in Egypt."
One of those statements, from a farmer who claimed to have seen a fragment fall on a dog, gave rise to the popular myth that Nakhla, as the meteorite would be named, was "the dog killing meteorite," an unsubstantiated claim, but the dramatic account is irresistible: "The fearful column which appeared in the sky at Denshal was substantial. The terrific noise it emitted was an explosion which made it erupt several fragments of volcanic materials. These curious fragments, falling to earth, buried themselves into the sand to the depth of about one metre. One of them fell on a dog...leaving it like ashes in a moment."
Comment: According to the Polish Fireball Network, the orbit of the body was similar to the orbit of the Alpha Capricornids (CAP), but due to a calm nature of its changes in brightness, the meteor came from the main belt of planetoids rather than being cometary in nature. The approximate mass of the body was likely only 0.5-1 kg.