Wadsworth        41°2.6973'N, 81°45.4308'W

Ohio, United States

Confirmed fall: 2026 Mar 17

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Classification: HED achondrite (Eucrite, monomict)

History:  On the morning of March 17, 2026, a daytime bolide was observed across a wide area of the northeast United States. Sonic booms were reported over the Cleveland area. Signatures of falling meteorites are visible in data from three weather radars: the KPBZ (Pittsburgh) and KCLE (Cleveland) NEXRAD radars, and the TLVE airport radar. The earliest signature appears 11.77 km Above Mean Sea Level (AMSL) in KPBZ data at 12:57:45 UTC (8:57 am EDT), and the last occurs at 3.27 km AMSL in KCLE data at 13:10:2 UTC for an elapsed time of 12 mins 16 sec. A strewn field calculated using the Jörmungandr dark flight model predicted the fall of kg-mass stones south of Rittman, Ohio, with lighter stones predicted to the NE over a length of >30 km. The first stone (1.76 g) was found the next afternoon by Matt Perison in a parking lot in Sharon Center. Several hundred stones have since been found, defining a narrow strewnfield extending ~21.4 km SSW-NNE, overlapping the towns of Sharon Center (single stone finds <15 g in size), Wadsworth (~15-70 g), and Rittman (>70 g). The total mass recovered to date is 1728 g.

Physical characteristics: The meteorites are notable for their dark-black glossy fusion crust, which also varies from clear to brown. Some stones exhibit classic flight-orientation features with well-developed roll-over lips. Some have solidified glassy spicules adhering to the fusion crust. The stones are friable. Fusion crust is ~50-200 µm thick and vesicular.

Petrography: The sample represents a monomict breccia (variably brecciated across different sections) composed of up to ~1.2 mm-sized lithic/mineral clasts set within a finer-grained cataclastic matrix. Modal abundances based on a 2.5 × 6 mm area (ASU) are 45.2 areal% plagioclase, 45.1 areal% pyroxene, and 5.9 areal% silica, with the rest occupied by accessory phases, porosity, and cracks. The lithic clasts (silicate grain size generally ~0.2-0.6 mm, up to ~2 mm) display relict cumulate textures composed of subequal proportions of subhedral pyroxene and plagioclase, plus minor subhedral/anhedral tridymite (identified with EBSD). Low-Ca pyroxene host grains often contain <30 µm-sized augite exsolution lamellae (which are frequently decorated with up to 2 µm, acicular chromite crystals). Tridymite grains occasionally contain inclusions of troilite (~5 µm), chromite, and/or Fe-metal (Ni-free). Additional accessory phases observed include ilmenite and fluorapatite.

Geochemistry: (L. Garvie and A. Wittman, ASU; J. T. Mitchell, UMin; C. Agee, T. Shisseh, and M. Spilde, UNM; D. Dickens, LMAC; A. S. Bell, UColo): Low-Ca pyroxene (Fs58.8±0.9Wo1.5±0.2, range Fs55.3-60.8Wo1.1-2.8, Mg# = 40.3±0.8, Fe/Mn = 31±1, n=83); high-Ca pyroxene (Fs24.4±0.9Wo44.3±1.4, range Fs23.1-27.6Wo38.7-45.4, Mg# = 56.3±1.0, Fe/Mn = 28±2, n=42); calcic plagioclase (An90.8±0.5Or0.1±0.1, range An89.6-91.9Or0.0-0.3, n=57); chromite (Mg# = 1.9±0.4, Cr# = 80.2±1.1, n=19). Oxygen isotopes (K. Ziegler, UNM): 8 untreated subsamples (weighing between 1.8-2.7 mg) analyzed by laser fluorination gave δ18O = 4.161, 3.717, 5.130, 4.224, 4.319, 4.999, 5.136, 5.224; δ17O = 1.880, 1.717, 2.349, 1.922, 1.990, 2.314, 2.348, 2.371; Δ17O = -0.317, -0.246, -0.359, -0.308, -0.290, -0.325, -0.363, -0.387 (all data linearized, in per mil, TFL slope=0.528).

Classification: (Ohio Meteorite Classification [OMC] Team - D. Sheikh, Cascadia; L. Garvie and A. Wittmann, ASU; J. T. Mitchell, UMin; D. Dickens, LMAC; A. S. Bell, UColo; C. Agee, K. Ziegler, T. Shisseh, and M. Spilde, UNM; M. Fries, JSC; T. Irving, UWS; A. Love, App; P. Carpenter, WUSL; L. Welzenbach Fries, Rice; C. Goodrich and B. Balta, XSPACE) HED achondrite (eucrite, monomict). Pyroxene Fe/Mn ratios and oxygen isotopes overlap with HED achondrites. Pyroxene, plagioclase, and chromite chemistry overlap with basaltic eucrites (Mittlefehldt, 2015).

Specimens: 54.1 g, a polished thin section, and a polished probe mount at TCU; 24.2 g at OGM; 13.5 g at AMNH; 4 g at ASU; 2.5 g at UMin; 1.4 g and two polished thin sections. Main mass stone (509.9 g) with Mark Sokol.