What do you know about a 82-pound meteorite that fell from the sky into a field near Waterville, Washington, in 1917?

Yep, in 1917 a major meteor shower filled the skies over central Washington and in the following years folks in the Waterville area stumbled upon several meteorites. Farmer Fred Fachnie found one caught in his combine during harvest season! In 1925, Fred loaned his meteorite to a museum in Tacoma which sliced off almost ten pounds of the space rock and then tried to claim ownership of it. Finally, in 1963, the meteorite was returned to Waterville and now can be seen in the Douglas County Historical Museum.

The “mystery” today is this: How many times might you have driven through Waterville and never gave the Douglas County Historical Museum a second thought….. and look what you’ve missed seeing! (Have you ever touched a real space relict???)

Thanks to Washington Curiosities by Harriet Baskas, 2008.