P.C. Scott (right) examining a piece of the Barwell meteorite.

Given this setting, it is easy to see how the fall of a genuine rock from space, in the village of Barwell, completely captured the imagination of the public and media at the time.

The fall occurred around 16:20 on Christmas Eve. One Barwell resident, Mr Crow, was walking home from work when he saw a flash in the sky accompanied by a loud bang. A few moments later he described hearing a ‘swish’ followed by a thud as one of the first pieces landed on the ground nearby. This was followed by several other pieces landing in quick succession.

Carol singers were out that evening and recalled a crunching noise underfoot as they walked around the village. One of the carol singers was 26-year-old Rosemary Leader. She picked up a piece of the rock, but threw it away after examining it under a street light. She recalls, “I was out carol singing, I didn’t want to carry a lump of rock around.”

Being Christmas Eve, life went on regardless for the next couple of days. The first official report of the incident was made by Mr Grewcock (a neighbour of Mr Crow) to local police officer P.C. Scott on 27 December.