On Christmas Eve 1965, a monster meteorite, the biggest ever known to have fallen in the country, blazed a white hot trail across the darkening sky, and exploded into hundreds of fragments which hurtled earthwards and embedded themselves into the earth of the village of Barwell in Leicestershire. 

Upon further examination, it was determined that the meteorite was more than 4,200,000 years old, which dated it back to the origins of the earth.
Scientists had reason to believe the meteorite originated from a belt of asteroids that circled the sun.  One theory developed that the pebbles or chondrules that make up the alien body are actually remains of high-pressure minerals formed deep in the original planetary body before it exploded. 
As Arthur Crow was walking home from work at the factory of Harvey, Harvey and Co, he heard an explosion. He thought nothing of it at the time, but later, near his home at 18 The Common in Barwell, he heard a whizzing noise. He quickly ducked behind the nearest wall for protection, and then heard a thud as something hit the ground nearby.
In the meantime, another large chunk of meteorite came crashing through the window of Mary and Joseph Grewcock, at 14 The Common. Outside their house, pieces of rock and white powder were splattered all over the road. Joseph cautiously stepped out into the road to investigate the noise he had heard. He picked up a piece of rock and dropped it again, as it was still hot. 
The fall of rocks was irregular, but roughly oval in shape, and centred on the houses in Barwell Common. Although not much damage was done, in addition to the window at the Grewcocks, one piece of debris went through the roof of a factory, another piece went through the bonnet of a car, and two other pieces landed in private drives, penetrating to a depth of nine inches. The majority of the remaining debris landed on softer surfaces, such as gardens, allotments and playing fields. 
On the night in question, witnesses reported two fireballs, travelling at similar speeds and on parallel tracks approximately nine miles apart.
The fireball, which fell in Barwell, was given the name fireball one. The second fireball was seen in the Rugby area and reported to have exploded. It seems that in addition to the two fireballs that went towards the east and north side of Coventry, there was also a third fireball that went towards the west side of Coventry. 
J B McKellar, keeper of Geology at the Leicester Museum, said the rock did not have the usual colour and appearance of a typical meteorite. The samples were taken to Leicester University and the British Museum, where they were identified as a meteorite. The British Museum offered a reward of ten shillings an ounce for pieces of meteorite, which sparked the Barwell 'Gold Rush'. Hordes of people quickly descended on the area where the fireball pieces were scattered. The largest piece of the meteor recovered weighed 17ib 5oz and was buried in 2 ½ ft of earth. 

There were reports of hearing strange noises from as far away as Wiltshire.  The total weight of all the pieces discovered was about 103ibs, which makes the Barwell meteorite the largest known to have fallen in the country.