The Aletai meteorite began as a massive meteor--estimated up to 100 tons--that broke up upon entry into Earth's atmosphere, depositing meteorite fragments as massive as 28 tons across China. The strewn field was approximately 500 kilometers long. The shower of meteorite fragments were spread out over such a large area that specimens were given a variety of different names, primarily names of cities they were found near. It wasn't until studies determined that they all originated from the same event that they were either renamed or considered synonymous with Aletai.

The size of Aletai's strewn field has been attributed to entering Earth's atmosphere at a very low trajectory, basically skipping through our upper atmosphere like a stone skipping across a pond as the meteor broke up.