An accidental discovery
In 1920, a farmer named Jacobus Hermanus Brits was plowing a field on his farm, Hoba West, when his ox-drawn plow came to an abrupt halt with a loud metallic screech. The obstruction was a massive, flat-topped black rock. Brits scratched the surface with his knife and saw a metallic shine underneath. He had discovered what is now known as the Hoba meteorite, the largest single meteorite ever found on Earth and the massive naturally occurring piece of iron on the planet's surface.
Because of its immense weight, estimated at over 60 tonnes, the meteorite has never been moved from where it landed. The object measures roughly 2.7 by 2.7 meters, with a thickness of about 0.9 meters. A puzzling feature of the discovery is the complete absence of an impact crater. Scientists theorize that the meteorite's unusually flat, tabular shape caused it to enter Earth's atmosphere at a very shallow angle. This would have slowed its descent dramatically, allowing it to land at terminal velocity without causing a significant excavation.