Hello list, I sent out a press release on Tuesday on the Wichita meteorite, to all the local medias. After no press calls on Tuesday I took off across the state yesterday only to come home to find 53 calls on my caller ID. I left contact information for me and Jerry Calvert, a local who some of you know a little. It was only with Jerry I was able to get the Kansas Meteorite Society off the ground. So after posting, 100-200? meteorite newspaper reports to this list, I can now post an article I had a lot to do with... Traveler from the heavensA meteorite discovered in a Sedgwick County wheat field in 1971 is on display today. The Wichita Eagle Jerry Calvert is eager to show folks one well-traveled rock. As a meteor, it flew in outer space for maybe 2 million years or so. It fell from the sky and was discovered by Bud Scott on Aug. 17, 1971, in his wheatfield, three miles east of Wichita. Then it was purchased, and it traveled to Japan. Now, Calvert -- co-founder of the Kansas Meteorite Society -- has purchased the five-pound rock and returned it to Sedgwick County. Today and Friday, the public can see the meteorite from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Fire Equipment Co., 123 S. Osage. "It's the only recovered meteorite for Sedgwick County," Calvert said. He hopes the Sedgwick County meteorite -- which he wants to have named "The Wichita Meteorite" by the Meteorite Nomenclature Committee -- will help spur awareness and interest in meteorites. The Wichita meteorite has been identified as a common chondrite, the classification for the majority of meteorites. Kansas ranks second behind Texas for the most meteorites found within state boundaries. Calvert says the main reason is that some of the most renowned meteorite specialists have been born and raised in Kansas. Harvey Nininger, the most famous meteorite hunter of all time, was born in Conway Springs and taught at McPherson College. Lincoln La Paz, who founded the Institute of Meteorites at the University of New Mexico, was born in Wichita and attended Wichita State University. When Nininger died in 1986, he was considered the most prolific meteorite collector of the 20th century. He was the founder of the American Meteorite Laboratory and published 12 books on meteorites. Calvert says he has a passion for the rocks because "they are composed of the same virgin materials that formed our sun and neighboring planets. They exist in their original state, unchanged by weathering, erosion, volcanism and other planetary forces." Calvert hopes the viewing of the Wichita meteorite this week will spark interest in people who either want to know more about the rocks or who may have meteorites they would like to have identified or perhaps sell. "There is some monetary value in meteorites through universities and private collectors," Calvert said. |
