He received about 100 written notes that helped to narrow down the area and determine the fall time at about 45 minutes past midnight on 9 February.
[1] ELTA published the narrowed down location on 2 April and the public started sending in various stranger looking stones, but the first piece of the meteorite was received only on 1 September.
[3] Padvarninkai did not receive much scientific interest because the main fragments were held behind the Iron Curtain and were largely inaccessible to western scientists.
[7] Upon initial observation, Padvarninkai was classified as a shergottite due to the presence of maskelynite (a glassy material found in some meteorite impact craters).
[8] Padvarninkai, as many other eucrites, is rich in both pyroxene (mostly orthopyroxene with exsolved augite) and plagioclase (mostly bytownite and anorthite) with small amounts of chromite, ilmenite, pigeonite, tridymite and troilite.
[8] While in this regard Padvarninkai is a typical eucrite, it is highly unusual due to its plentiful features that indicate extreme shocks, such as suevitic (melted) black veins and vitrified (glassy) sections.