[Rockhounds] A most exciting method of collecting...

[Mr EMan]

Hello JR,

1969 was the year for two major meteorite falls: Allende in Mexico and Murchison in Australia, but I don't recall a report you mention nor if any meteorites were recovered in North America. You'll need a date and general location to do any more research.

The initiative to look for meteorites in tramp/mining iron was started by Dr Andrew Sicree whilst on staff at Penn State.  I don't know the results of his study other than what he told me early on: spoiled credit cards and ruined watches that were zapped by the electromagnets.

Of widely seen fireballs of size which can drop meteorites,which have an end trajectory over land, result in recovery 30%+ of the time now days.  I know of two in Pennsylvania which should have produced meteorites but for which no fragments were recovered. One was in the vicinity of New Holland and the other vic the "Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania/Sprague State Forest/Wellsboro.   Both had good trajectory data from satellites but ended in very rugged/forested areas.

As for finds in coal fields,I have recovered several siderite masses which resemble meteorites in form and am looking for a researcher that would like to analyze them.  While they are very heavy--much more so than normal siderite nodules I've not found native iron yet even though some pieces seem to be attracted to a magnet.

There are some internet lists you could join that might give you a heads up on when it is practical to start searching after a fireball sighting.  Generally speaking, owing to an optical illusion, 90% of sighters think that the meteorite landed" just over the hill" from them and that is glowed all the way to the ground.  A meteor can be seen no more than 250 miles away, is usually 120 miles above ground when it starts glowing (incandescesing)and no less than 5 miles high when it stops glowing.

Steve Arnold (American Meteorite Brokers and Brenham Meteorite Company) from Arkansas and Greensburg, Kansas respectively --along with his partners are recovering pallasite-type meteorites named Brenham,  in and around there. They were believed to have fallen around the end of the last ice cap retreat.

Finally, most hunters do use metal detectors within known fields as roughly 85% of meteorites contain free metal.  The most valuable meteorites-- achondrites from the Moon and Mars, generally don't have free metal that will trigger the detector so keeping a sharp eye out and looking at a lot of meteorite photos will raise the odds of recovery. a lot of meteorites are found by farmers when plowing and get used for years as a harrow ballast or a door stop until someone comes along and says...hummmm...funny rock you got here....

Regards,
Eman


--- On Sun, 11/30/08, J. R. Hodel <jr50wv at yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: J. R. Hodel <jr50wv at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [Rockhounds] A most exciting method of collecting...
> To: rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com
> Date: Sunday, November 30, 2008, 10:06 AM
> Waiting for a rock to fall from the sky and explode just
> above a rural community!
> 
> I saw a noteworthy meteor back in 1969, my (then
> girlfriend) wife and I were driving to my parent's house
> after work around midnight, and the landscape lit up
> brighter than mid-day.  We each leaned out the car windows
> and looked up to see a streak of brilliant light from
> horizon to horizon, (SSW to NNE)!
> 
> It quickly dimmed, but when it first lit up I actually
> thought it was a atomic weapon of some sort!  That's
> how bright it was, like the end of the world.
> 
> The newswires quickly reported that it was seen from North
> Carolina to upper NY state, and must have just grazed the
> upper atmosphere.  It was like a huge fluorescent tube
> across the entire sky, and if it had just a few degrees
> different course it would have landed in the south
> somewhere.
> 
> My family growing up was night-owls as my Dad worked nights
> putting out a morning newspaper, so I've seen more
> meteors and such than most non-astronomers. We live in the
> country as well, which make it possible to see comets and
> meteorites and such, compared to the city lights.  Very
> interesting rocks indeed! 
> 
> What are the odds of self-collecting one of these babies? 
> I suppose you could metal-detect around known landing sites
> and increase the odds a little...  Isn't this how that
> big meteorite full of crystals displayed in Tuscon a couple
> of years ago was found?  Hi-tech metal detectors in
> Nebraska or somewhere like that...IIRC.  
> 
> I read once about a geology (or maybe astronomy?) professor
> who asked mining companies to provide him metal junk,
> removed from the beltways of underground mines by power
> electromagnets intended to keep metal tools from messing up
> crushing machinery, in hopes of finding ancient nickle-iron
> meteorites, does this ring a bell with anyone?
> 
> JR in WV
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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