Scientists urge walkers to search Scottish hills after meteor fireball explodes over Highlands

A bright meteor that exploded over northern Scotland in the early hours of July 3 scattered fragments across the Highlands, and scientists are asking hillwalkers and walkers to search for the space rocks before weather and rain degrade them.

Researchers with the UK Fireball Alliance say the meteor’s path was tracked to a fall zone straddling Loch Treig in Lochaber, Highland, with fragments likely strewn across several nearby peaks. Small pieces weighing up to about 100 grams are believed to have fallen on the western side of the trajectory across Stob Coire, Easain and Chno Dearg, while larger chunks — possibly up to 10 kilograms — are thought to have landed on and around Ben Alder, where exposed granite could make dark meteorites easier to spot.

Planetary geoscientist Luke Daly of the University of Glasgow, who has led prior meteorite recoveries in Britain, described meteorites as "time capsules of the early solar system" that can yield information about how the system formed. Daly and colleagues say the rock that produced the fireball is likely an ordinary chondrite, a common class of meteorite that typically appears black and glassy and is relatively heavy for its size because it can contain about 30 percent iron.

Dr. Aine O'Brien, a space scientist at the University of Glasgow who joined a 14-person search party to Ben Alder, asked walkers to look for stones that "stand out from everything around them." She said meteorites often have a shiny, almost glassy surface and can appear slightly rusty after recent rain. The search party was forced to curtail its efforts before recovering fragments because of bad weather.

Experts warn that the clock is running. Meteorites begin to change rapidly after contact with Earth's atmosphere and then by exposure to ground and precipitation. "The longer these pieces sit out on the Scottish hills, the more they will be weathered and the less we'll be able to tell about their composition," Daly said.

Walkers who believe they have found a meteorite are asked to photograph the find, record its GPS location, and send the information to the UK Fireball Alliance. If a small piece can be picked up, volunteers were asked not to handle it directly and to wrap it in aluminum foil or a clean sandwich bag. If a specimen is too large to carry, an accurate GPS fix will help researchers recover it later.

Jamie Shepherd of the UK Meteor Network said any authenticated recovery would be "history-making," noting that the last known meteorite recovered in Scotland fell in December 1917. That fall, known as the Strathmore meteorite, fragmented and was recovered in four pieces in Perthshire.

The 2021 recovery of the Winchcombe meteorite, led by Daly's team, remains a recent example of how rapid fieldwork can preserve scientifically valuable material. Winchcombe was a carbonaceous chondrite whose prompt retrieval allowed scientists to study relatively unweathered material that can carry volatile compounds thought to have been important in the early chemistry of Earth.

The UK Fireball Alliance continues to analyze camera records and witness reports to refine the fall pattern. Scientists emphasized that confirmed finds can provide unique opportunities to study the solar system's history, but urged caution and clear documentation to preserve as much scientific value as possible.