October, 2000
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The Claxton meteorite and Mailbox
The fall of a meteorite is an unusual event - especially a witnessed fall that hits a mailbox. As a matter of fact, this is the only recorded "mailbox strike".
As reported in Meteoritics, Vol. 20, 1985:
"At approximately 22:30 U.T. on Monday, December 10, 1984, the skies were partly cloudy over southeast Georgia, U.S.A. and it was preparing to rain. In the late twilight sky, Vietnam veteran, Don Richardson had just stepped out of his mobile home. A whistling noise, reminding him of an incoming mortar round, made him flinch instinctively. Thirty-six meters from where he was standing an object impacted with a loud bang. It struck a mailbox, knocking it to the ground."
Claxton is classified as a Stone, L6 chondrite. The interior is light gray in color with visible concentrations of metal.
A single stone weighing 1455.0 grams, measuring 105 x 97 x 82mm was found.
As with the Peekskill car, the Claxton mailbox has achieved more notariety than the actual meteorite.
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