
19/09/2025
💥 A Giant Meteorite That Struck Earth 17,000 Years Ago
One of the prized treasures of the American Museum of Natural History is a massive extraterrestrial rock known as the Willamette Meteorite. Weighing 15.5 tons, it is the largest meteorite ever found in the United States and the sixth largest in the world.
The Willamette Meteorite is composed of iron and nickel, and like other iron meteorites, it formed billions of years ago. Originally part of a protoplanet, gravity caused dust particles to clump together, with heavier metals like iron and nickel forming the planetary core. Eventually, this body collided with another planet, shattering it and sending iron- and nickel-rich fragments into space.
These planetary fragments continued orbiting the Sun for billions of years until about 17,000 years ago, when the Earth’s orbit intersected with one of them—the Willamette Meteorite. It slammed into Earth at more than 64,000 km/h (40,000 mph), likely striking somewhere in western Canada.
The meteorite became embedded in glacial ice. Over centuries, slow-moving glaciers carried it toward the Columbia River. When the ice melted, it sank to the riverbed near present-day Portland. By the end of the last Ice Age, as waters receded, the meteorite was exposed to the elements. Rainwater mixing with iron sulfide within the rock produced sulfuric acid, which gradually dissolved parts of the meteorite, creating the distinctive cavities seen today.
The Clackamas Chinook people, Native inhabitants of the Willamette Valley in Oregon, discovered the meteorite long before Europeans arrived. They named it “Tomanowos,” believing it to be a gift from the Sky People and a sacred symbol of unity between the sky, earth, and water. For the Clackamas, Tomanowos was holy—revered as a spiritual being with healing power and strength for the valley’s people. They used it in ceremonies, collecting water that pooled in its crevices for purification rituals.
Today, the Willamette Meteorite remains on display at the American Museum of Natural History. In 1999, a coalition of Native American tribes requested the return of their sacred Tomanowos. After legal negotiations, an agreement was reached: the meteorite would stay at the museum, but tribal members are allowed to perform ceremonies around it once a year.
✨ The Willamette Meteorite is not just a scientific relic—it is both a cosmic traveler and a sacred bridge between cultures and worlds.