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: DEPARTMENT Of STATE
t JI aDA
~ " ... co... -.,,' FROM Amconsul OHAHRAN OATE: October 27, 1965
,., ••• u. SUBJECT : Aramco Recovl!!rs TWo al-Hadfdah Meteori tes
-,"rlr.-••;;•.-t-.",..~,---j REF
.;/) ' . A [)!~rtnent's Telegram 88, October 13, 1965: 6. Congen
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Telegram
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. In ' to Department /fOo..n
l."tA
During his extended stay in Saudi Arabia earlier this year to prepore
an illustrated erticle on tM, Kingdom for the National 'Ie. ~is~ .
Hi. Thana!; J. ABERCROMBIE ~jas taken to the II . al era'
(SOD 281 E 21? )0' N) in the Rub al-Kh.1i by an ,cI'"<or,ICI,) bedouin guide. Hr.
Abercrombie viewed and photographed a large meteorite near the crater,
esti mating its weight at two tons.
Upon returning to WaShington, Mr' . Abercrorrb i e discussed the meteorite
with the Smithsonian Institution, which e~pressed an interest in recovering
It for study and analysis (Reference A). Stimulated by messages between
Mr. Abercrombie and Aramco President Mr. Than&s C. BARGER, Aramco sent a
team to al·Hadidah crater to recover the meteorite, using heavy equi p:nent
already avail.ble at a seismographic field camp north of Ubaylah. Th~ team
recovered not only the large meteorite seen by Mr. Abercrombie but also a
smaller one 200 yardS farther south.
80th meteorites were trucked to Ohahran and have since been found' to
weigh 4,800 pounds and 470 PQunds respectively. The larger one was esti_
mated by the team in al-Hadidah to weigh 1,100 pounds (Reference a), but
Mr. Abercrombie 1s estimate proved to be. l1I.Ich closer. Both meteorites are
of the iron family and have a high specific gravity. Enc losure No. I
gives extracts from an Aramco report on the teaml~ visit to al.Hadidah and
on the preliminary examination of the meteorites.
Enc 1osure:
~ ~I) Excerpts
L from Aramco Report on al-Hadidah Meteorites
Decontrol follow i ng Oct@~( 27.
llJ+HEU OffIcIAl! 1966 FOR. DEJ'I. YSZ ONLY
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