[Rockhounds] Emailing: METEORITE ? FOUND IN FIELD IN ALPAUGH, CA

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

Veva,

I'll start by saying most rocks found and thought to be meteorites by 
the finder turn out not to be. Take the unknown rock to a local rock 
club. If it is not a meteorite they will probably be able to give it a 
positive identification. You can find a local rock club at 
www.amfed.org.

If the rock club is not able to give it an identification, it could be 
a meteorite. You will need an expert, probably using lab equipment, to 
give a positive identification of a meteorite. The geology department 
at a local college or university should be able to provide a positive 
identification of a meteorite. If it is a meteorite, expect them to 
want to keep a portion for study; insist on credit for finding it, and 
a copy of every paper they produce on it.

There are a handful of rockhounds and dealers that specialize in 
meteorites that I know of that could be trusted to give a positive 
identification. I think the closest one to you is in Arizona.

Start with your local rock club. If it turns out to be a meteorite in 
the end they will be the most excited and turn you into a local hero. 
But don't get your hopes up, they are most likely going to be able to 
identify it as something local.

My club gets five to ten of these possible meteorites every year, with 
most showing up at our annual club show. In the past five years we've 
been stumped four times that I know of and referred them to an expert. 
Three of them were negative, and we never heard back on the fourth.

But to be fair, I know one rockhound/dealer who personally averages 
finding a confirmed meteorite every other day.

Kreigh


On Sunday, Nov 30, 2008, at 19:44 America/Detroit, VevaBailey at aol.com 
wrote:

> Hello List!
> My husbands cousin, Jerry, found this "rock" in Alpaugh, CA while  
> plowing up
> a field. He said it was just laying on top of the soil, not buried.
> There aren't very many rocks that are natural in that area.
> Alpaugh is or was a lake bed many thousands of years ago and is 
> completely
> flat. This field is used to grow cotton and other crops.
> I don't know how to tell if the "rock" is a meteorite or what, so 
> could  some
> of you give me some input?
>
> Veva B.
>
>
>
>
>
> The message is ready to be sent with the following file or link  
> attachments:
>
> METEORITE FOUND IN FIELD IN ALPAUGH, CA
>
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