Shropshire meteorite: No trace despite hundreds of possible finds

The fireball was spotted over the skies in Shropshire last month

Despite many searches, scientists are yet to find fragments of a meteorite thought to have landed in Shropshire.

Pieces of space rock are thought to be around Condover after the meteorite was spotted in the skies on 13 April.

Aine O'Brien, from the UK Fireball Alliance, said the rock was likely older than Earth and could unlock more knowledge of the solar system.

She said the alliance had had an amazing response from the community with hundreds of emails and messages.

Aine O'Brien and other members of the UK Fireball Alliance have been searching in Shropshire

The people of Shropshire are "obviously keeping an eye out for every single rock [they] see because we have had so many messages", she said.

While no fragment of the meteorite has yet officially been found, Ms O'Brien said there had been "some really promising" submissions.

"We think it's a really strong really old rock, which is probably one of the very first things to form in our solar system, so older than any of the planets," she said.

"It can pretty much tell us how did our solar system come to be."

It's thought the fragments could be around the village of Condover, near Shrewsbury

After three weeks of searching, the UK Fireball Alliance is keen to trace pieces of the rock before they become eroded.

However, Ms O'Brien said "from what it's withstood, it's probably going to last a few months".

The meteorite fragments are thought to be shiny, almost iridescent, and dark in colour. The rocks could be as small as a fingernail but no bigger than a fist and would be heavy for their size, Ms O'Brien said.

"We're just asking people to keep an eye out because it's out there somewhere," she said.