Extremely rare meteorite retrieved in the UK after three decades

Its 30 years since meteorite material was last retrieved in the UK.

Reportedly, the discovery was made after a fireball meteor that was seen shooting through the night sky across the UK and at some other parts of northern Europe on February 28.

The meteorites are the first to be found in the UK since 1991 and the first carbonaceous chondrite meteorites in Britain ever

Scientists have confirmed that the rocks are first of its kind to ever be found in the UK.

Experts received a call from a family who had heard a thud in the night on their driveway discovered a pile of black and powdery rock.

Hundreds of pieces of this rare meteorite survived its passage through atmosphere of Earth and landed in town of Winchcombe and Gloucestershire.

A member of Earth Sciences at the Natural History Museum, Dr Ashley King in an interview with Sky News said, "I'm absolutely stunned to be honest and it really hasn't sunk in at all".

She further added, "I always hoped that we would get maybe one meteorite fall in my lifetime that I'd have the opportunity to go and look for".

She also stated that the recovery is the first meteorite that's been recovered in the UK for 30 years, which made this an incredibly rare event.

"The type of meteorite that we've managed to get our hands on is a really rare type of meteorite as well so it's doubly exciting for us," she concluded.

Moreover, approximately 65,000 known meteorites are on earth and only 1206 have been witnessed to fall and of these only 51 are carbonaceous chondrites.

So the recovered meteorite found is first known carbonaceous chondrite to have been found in the UK.