On July 29, 2025, a specimen of Paitan Meteorite was received by the province through the Honorable Vice Governor Atty. Clarence E. Dato.
Mr. Mar Christian Cruz, a geoscientist, a member of the
International Meteorite Collectors Association (IMCA), and a volunteer of the
Philippine Astronomical Society (PAS), exhibited his personal meteorite
collection during the Ibabao Festival celebration in June 2025.
This piece of asteroid, classified as an Ordinary Chondrite
and with main mass of only 515 grams, is said to be part of a fireball seen in
San Juan, Ilocos Sur, after the Halley's comet tail passed through the Earth on
May 25, 1910. It was discovered by a young man who found a fist-sized burned
stone inside a small pit in San Juan. It was then kept as a family charm for
the past 75 years. The burnt stone was examined in 1986, and it was revealed
that the rock is not a comet fragment but a piece of an asteroid.
Thanks to Mr. Mar Christian V Cruz for bringing this
extraterrestrial piece of gem to our province!
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