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September 9, 2026
Today in Texas History
On this day in 1961, at 10:08 p.m., a fireball was seen passing northward through the sky just east of the Fort Worth-Dallas region. It hit the ground near Bells, Grayson County. Some 10 ounces of a very rare carbonaceous chondrite was retrieved from the meteorite over a six-month period. Only about 20 ounces of this substance had been known previously to fall in the world.
Texas has had at least nine cases of “falls"- meteorites recovered from a witnessed fireball. By an unusual coincidence, the fall near Bells was the second to occur in Northeast Texas within approximately 100 miles of each other and within a period of a little over 100 days.
An 18-pound chondrite had fallen in a backyard near Marshall shortly before 10:30 p.m. on May 30, 1961.
Texas has had at least nine cases of “falls"- meteorites recovered from a witnessed fireball. By an unusual coincidence, the fall near Bells was the second to occur in Northeast Texas within approximately 100 miles of each other and within a period of a little over 100 days.
An 18-pound chondrite had fallen in a backyard near Marshall shortly before 10:30 p.m. on May 30, 1961.