Ohaba

Name in the NHM catalogue: Ohaba
Locality*: Ohaba, judeţ [county] Alba, ROM
Co-ordinates*: 46° 4' N, 23° 47' E
Fall/find: Fall
Date of the fall: 11.10.1857, 00:15
Type (level 1): Stone
Type (level 2): Chondrite
Type (level 3): Ordinary chondrite
Group: H5
Further data: veined
Recovered weight: 16,25 kg
Synonyms*: Alba Julia, Carlsburg, Karlsburg, Ohába, Veresegyhaza, Veresegyháza
Remark: Data from Grady, M. M. (2000): Catalogue of meteorites. 5^th rev. enl. ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Data marked with an asterisk (*) are supplemented or corrected.

History of the fall: Mihály Moldován, Greek Orthodox priest, sleeping in the straw at the entrance of his barn, was raised by a thunderous noise from his sleep. Waking up he saw a fiery body, quickly falling to the earth. The frightened priest lost his consciousness for a few minutes. The fall was also observed by few other people, who spent the night on a nearby hillside together with their cattle. The meteorite was found pierced in the ground of the fruit-garden of Mihály Groszad on the next day. He and the officials of the village examined the “miraculous stone”, which was handed over by Mr Thalmann, clerk of the village to the district officials at Balázsfalva (now Blaj). Finally Prince Karl Schwarzenberg, Governor of Transylvania ordered to send it to the mineralogical collection of the Court (now Natural History Museum) in Vienna. The finders of the meteorite received a 500-florin reward.