Glassy surface, large vesicles...it's not a meteorite, and it looks like textbook slag.
http://www.meteorites.wustl.edu/meteorwrongs/m218.htm Jason On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 1:01 PM, Mike Groetz <[email protected]> wrote: > > http://www.mercedsunstar.com/livingston/story/804260.html > > Livingston mystery rock might be from space > > By SCOTT JASON > [email protected] > > LIVINGSTON -- It's clear a 170-pound black boulder doesn't belong embedded > half-a-foot into a sandy loam field north of Livingston. > > The puzzle is whether it fell from the sky -- a meteorite on a collision > course with Earth. Or if the giant rock was abandoned 10 feet off the road > for some unknown reason, coincidentally about the same time residents saw a > fireball burning in the Central Valley sky. > > The missing piece of information should be known in a few weeks, if not > sooner. > > Jerry McAlwee, the self-described rock hound who found the boulder with a > friend, hopes it's an extraterrestrial discovery. And even if it's not, the > suspense is worth the time and effort. > > "It's kind of a CSI-type thing," he said Tuesday. "If it's not a meteorite, I > don't know how to explain some of the things (about the rock)." > > For example, magnets stick to most of its surface. Part of its crust is > melted and smooth. The grass is stained around it. > > McAlwee, 40, lives in Sunnyvale but helps his girlfriend maintain five acres > and a house about 100 yards from Highway 99. Along with a friend, Tim > Mihalko, he was extending a fence on Sycamore Street. > > Surrounded by grass, Mihalko thought he'd stumbled on a tree stump. As he > made a closer pass with a ride-on mower, he realized it was a rock about the > size of a microwave. > > He called over McAlwee, who wasn't sure what to make of it. The last time he > had mowed the field was early December. The object wasn't there. It would've > mangled his mower blade. > > After pondering a few theories, he wondered if it could be the remnants of > the fireball seen in the night sky Dec. 27. > > Several people in the state saw a tomato-green fireball flying northwest > through the Central Valley. It sparked interest among meteorite hunters. A > few are said to have spent some time scouring the area. > > Meteorite researchers put the landing, if there was one, somewhere near the > north Merced County line. No one has yet announced that they've discovered > any pieces of it. > > It remains to be seen whether this is from that event or some coincidence. > > McAlwee sent a walnut-size sample to Eric Whichman, a San Diego resident who > runs www.meteoritesusa.com. > > Whichman said he will run preliminary tests to see if it contains nickel and > iron, two minerals found in chondrites, the most-common kind of meteorite. > > He'll also look for round mineral patches called chondrules. If both those > pan out, he'll ship the sample to a lab for tests. > > "We're taking a wait-and-see attitude," Whichman said. > > Based on the photos alone, he's skeptical that it's a meteorite. If he was > forced to make an immediate judgment, he'd say it's not a space rock. > > If it turns out to be a meteorite, he said he'll visit Merced as soon as he > can. > > If it's not, he still wants to spend some time looking for any meteorite left > by the fireball. > > Regardless of how this mystery turns out, McAlwee looks at discovering the > rock with a philosophical bent. > > "Everyone lives between their alarm clock and their next meal," he said. "It > broadens your idea of what might be the context of reality." > > In other words, between a rock and a starred space. > > > > > > ______________________________________________ > http://www.meteoritecentral.com > Meteorite-list mailing list > [email protected] > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > ______________________________________________ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
