Date: ~
Enclosure 1
A·S1 from, Dhahr~r.
EXCERPTS FROM ARAHCO REPORT ON Al-HADJ'DAH METEORITES
• • •• The rim of the main crater was quire distinct, its out l ine marked
wi th white rock and bl~k fused sil;cai although. northern sector had been
drifted over with sand. The crater appears ~h deeper from the ground than
tt does from the air; we estimated it to be 25 feet deep ••••
•••• The ~teo~lte, which appeared to be nearly pure i r on with a thin,
dark brown oxide crust , was in the fann of a shallow cone. The pitted but
roughly level top $urf.ce was .bou t three and one-half feet in diameter. As
viewed from the side. the iron t~pers to a smooth. blunted pOint. The depth
of the cone "liS about 18.2,4 ;n<:he..s. The meteorite is obviously of the
"oriented" t)'pe. The blunt point of the cone, or "headll • waC downward, and
the iron was immersed fn drift sand nearly to t~ top flat surface. There
WOIIS' $CII'Ie" 'l.fs«ct-si'l i Ca- in- tt1\!" vic: i1fi'r;r of -th€ f rM. - tro"r ii~e .-ppare-nfTY· ifl'iiie;';-
dlately bene~th it or fn contact with it. Th~ piece was photographed in place
and then turned over with the bulldozer and lifted onto the trailer with the
Kenworth A-frame. Its weight was later detenmfned to be about 4,$00 pounds,
(,;c: 4,800 pounds).
Th~t evening Tahir. the Kenworth drt~er. ~'scovered an9ther, apparently
unorienled. meteorite southeast of the first location. This wa$ $maller,
weigh(ng 470 pounds, and more deeply oxfdt~ed. There was no fused sand nelr
it. This was also photographed and loaded ~to the tra i ler.
Hadban, OUr guide, told us t hat he and his fe1l0ll! tribeslllen kiic:w of five
pieces of iron in all. Two we: had found; but there \oIt!rc three ",ore' ~ he said.
These meteorites are said to be uncovered at different tfmes a' the tow dunes
InO\'e over them. Hadban showed us two locatiOns, now covered with dunes,; where
he had seen irons of about the same size as those we hed alre~dy f~urid. _ ~_
other, much larger, he had heard of but had not seen himself. ' He. had heard
his friends describe the location and showeu us where It fs supp~edLto · lie.
The following is • lht of the locations of the two recovered: meteorites
and approximate locati~s of the three others as pointed out by H.dban. All
~zimuths are magnetic; they and the dl~tan~e~ . rc ~~~ured from the triang~lation
stltion on tile mairt crater ri,..
ut) C05
1. To m@teorite found by Abercronbie: azimuth 1960; di5t4nce 383 meters
2. To meteorite found by Tahir: ntmu.th 1]6°; distance 575 IfIeter~
3~ To reported meteorfte under dune: az i mut h apprOK. 270 0 ; appr ox.
dhlan'ce 700 met en
4 . To repartee meteorite under dune: a~i~u t h approx. 337°; ~pprox.
distance 900 met~rs
LIHl~lrICIAl USE