Great story...thanks for sharing that. Graham
On Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 4:55 PM, dorifry <[email protected]> wrote: > CF man discovers meteorite, again > > > > by Ken Haggerty > > > > Skunk Hollow resident Larry Plucker is a fairly down-to-earth guy, > except for maybe once every fifty years or so when he has what could be > called cosmic experiences. > > Plucker, who runs an appliance repair business, grew up on a farm near > Emery, South Dakota. When he was just a kid, back in 1962, he pulled a > somewhat different looking rock out of a rock pile on the farm. > > The curious young kid did some encyclopedia research and suspected he > had discovered a meteorite. He saw an article on meteorites in the farming > magazine "The Furrow" and, as suggested in the article, sent a sample of the > rock to the American Meteorite Laboratory in Denver, where it was confirmed > a meteorite. > > The Lab, which was aggressively researching meteorites as the U.S. was > in the early years of the space program, bought his 36 pound rock for nearly > $200. > > (A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that > survives impact with the Earth's surface. When a meteoroid enters the > atmosphere, the body heats up and emits light, thus forming a fireball, also > known as a meteor or shooting/falling star. There are about 40,000 > documented meteorite finds in the world.) > > Fast forward almost half a century. It's late-October, 2011, when > Plucker, his wife and son are on vacation in Washington, D.C. doing all the > touristy monument and museum visits. > > During a stop at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Plucker was > walking through an exhibit on various geological finds when he said to his > wife "I wonder whatever happened to the meteorite I found." Plucker said > they turned a corner and moments later he noticed a glassed-in display of > meteorites, including one named "Emery" that was discovered in South Dakota, > 1962. > > The meteorite he had found as a kid was on display at the Smithsonian! > It turns out his meteorite is a type called a mesosiderite, and is a mix of > stone, iron and nickel and is one of the more rare meteorites. Plucker says > only about one percent of the found meteorites are of this type. > > Plucker grabbed a few pictures of his second chance occurrence with this > cosmic rock for posterity and smiled about the probability and odds of > finding that meteorite not once, but twice. > > Since he was a kid, Plucker has kept a sliver of the meteorite, which he > carries with him in his wallet for good luck. As Plucker jokes, "You know > what they say: 'Catch a falling star and put in your pocket!'" > > > > http://www.cannonfalls.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=21039 > > Phil Whitmer > Joshua Tree Earth & Space Museum > > ______________________________________________ > Visit the Archives at > http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html > Meteorite-list mailing list > [email protected] > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
