◆ CASE FILEThe facts, corroborated
The Norcatur Fireball
Late on the afternoon of 18 February 1948 a fireball exploded over north-west Kansas with a blast that rattled windows below, and it fell as a meteorite: the stones recovered that spring are the Norton County meteorite. One farmer told investigators that a four-foot funnel belching fire had first hovered level with his face. This is the record of what was seen and heard, not a verdict on the farmer's story.
◆ THE SHORT VERSION
- The Norcatur Fireball is a reported UAP case in Norcatur, Kansas (explosion over Norton and Decatur counties), United States, 18 February 1948, about 16:50-17:00 local.
- A Kansas farmer told investigators that a four-foot funnel with fire belching out of it hovered level with his face before shooting off north-west.
- Moments later, witnesses across the area reported a huge explosion high in the sky that rattled windows.
- The fireball fell as a meteorite: stones recovered that spring are catalogued as the Norton County meteorite, a rare aubrite.
- Meteorite expert Lincoln LaPaz called the farmer's testimony amazing and set out to check his veracity; a colleague thought him sincere and badly scared.
- For this case Fractured Realities holds 2 distinct sources, 2 corroborating primary documents and 7 distinct claimants on its resolved list.
- The archive grades it L4 · OFFICIAL RECORD — a released government record names who saw it, the top of our scale, though no independent testimony sits beside that record.
Counts are resolved totals of what sources say, computed 2026-10-03; the reported details above are claims in the record, not findings. A record of reports, not a verdict on what happened.
EVENT DATE
18 February 1948, about 16:50-17:00 local
LOCATION
Norcatur, Kansas (explosion over Norton and Decatur counties) · United States
COORDS
39.83°N 100.19°W
INDEPENDENCE
L4 · OFFICIAL RECORD
SOURCES
2 distinct
CLAIMANTS
7
STATUS
Known from released government records
NUMBERS COMPUTED 2026-10-03 · RESOLVED COUNTS, NOT A VERDICT
