(Credit: Central Michigan University)
Posted on 10/07/2018 7:17:35 AM PDT by ETL
Central Michigan University geology professor Mona Sirbescu gets asked all the time if rocks people possess are meteorites, valuable rocks from space.
"For 18 years, the answer has been categorically 'no'...
But this latest rock was the real thing..."
"I could tell right away that this was something special," she said of the 22-plus pound meteorite, described as the sixth-largest recorded find in Michigan and worth potentially $100,000.
"It's the most valuable specimen I have ever held in my life, monetarily and scientifically," she added.
David Mazurek says he took his doorstop to the university for examination in January, after seeing reports of meteorite pieces selling for thousands of dollars.
Mazurek says the meteorite came with a barn he bought in 1988 in Edmore. He says the farmer who sold him the property told him it landed in his backyard in the 1930s. When looking at the rock on the barn's property, the previous owner matter-of-factly told him it was "a meteorite" and "it made a heck of a noise when it hit."
After analysis, the space rock was determined to contain 88 percent iron and 12 percent nickel, which is rarely found on Earth. Most iron meteorites are generally comprised of anywhere between 90 and 95 percent iron, with the rest made up nickel, iridium, gallium and occasionally gold. More tests are being conducted to see if the meteorite contains rare elements.
Mazurek says that when he sells the meteorite, he'll donate some of the money to the university. Whatever amount he winds up donating, Sirbescu said her students, the university and herself have already been beneficiaries of the find.
"Just think, what I was holding is a piece of the early solar system that literally fell into our hands," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
(Credit: Central Michigan University)
Michigan Man's 1930s Doorstop Turns Out to Be 22-Pound Meteorite Worth $100,000
The Weather Channel ^ | 5 Oct 2018 | Drew MacFarlane
Posted on 10/5/2018, 5:32:56 PM by DUMBGRUNT
If you like it, I love it!
The more the merrier!
When you like a flower, you just pluck it. But when you love a flower, you water it daily.
How long before the government stars collecting meteorites as their special “you’re too plebeian to have it” treasure, too?
Or do they already?
Back in days of old, they forged the metallic meteorites into weapons.
With the right tools, all hundered-year-old stuff you could make a firearm!!!
In the United States, most state laws state that a meteorite find belongs to the landowner of the land upon which the meteorite was found.[2]
This doctrine contrasts with the once-predominant rule in state courts on the finding of treasure trove, where buried gold or silver coinage (or paper money representing the same) is deemed to belong to the finder.
State lands
Many state courts have interpreted their laws as granting the state sole title to any meteorite recovered on state-owned lands.
Federal lands
United States laws and enforcement of laws regarding recovery of meteorites on federally owned public lands is unsettled. With respect to large meteorites, the federal government has asserted title to all such meteorites if proven to be found on federal land, because:[3]
the meteorite is the property of the federal government, the landowner
meteorites found on public lands are subject to the 1906 Antiquities Act (16 U.S.C. 432)
a meteorite does not qualify as a “valuable mineral” as defined under the 1872 Mining Law, and thus it is not subject to mineral claim rights that could otherwise be filed by the discoverer.
This policy derives from cases as far back as 1944, when the federal government seized the Drum Mountain Meteorite in Utah from a group of interned Japanese-American U. S. citizens.
The federal government has sometimes agreed to negotiate sometimes negotiating a small finders fee for large meteorites, but has never agreed to pay anything resembling full market value of the meteorite to the discoverer.
In the case of small meteorites, ownership of meteorites found on federal land is not covered in the Code of Federal Regulations, and in the past hobbyists have been able to remove small quantities of rock for non-commercial use.[4]
However, in recent years the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has asserted that it owns all meteorites recovered on BLM land, apparently arguing that BLM stands in the same position as a private landowner under state law.[5]
The BLM further asserts that under the 1906 Antiquities Act, all meteorites on BLM land belong to the Smithsonian Institution.[6] A BLM memorandum of September 10, 2012, reaffirms that meteorites found on public land belong to the Federal Government.[7]
Permits can be acquired for systematic search for meteorites on public land undertaken for scientific, educational, or commercial purposes; casual, limited meteorite hunting does not require a permit.
Meteorite hunting in Antarctica
Prospecting in Antarctica, aided by the sharp contrast between dark meteorites and the snow-covered surface.
Antarctic prospecting is very expensive and therefore can only be carried on by well funded organizations. Approximately half of the meteorites found in Antarctica have been recovered by ANSMET (Antarctic Search for Meteorite program).
The ANSMET program is a major source of the extraterrestrial material that is available for scientific investigation. Japanese finds make up the majority of the remainder, and China has recently begun exploration.[8]
A popular geological feature employed by Antarctic meteorite hunters is an area where a natural downsloped plain meets an uprising ridge, such as where the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, creeping to the sea at about three metres (10 feet) per year, meets the Transantarctic Mountains.
The downslope-mountain ridge combination allows the creeping gravity-driven icesheet to start rising sharply upwards. As it does so, the exposed snow and ice are removed by fierce winds and sublimation, effectively harvesting the embedded meteorites and leaving them to lie on the surface along the length of the mountain ridge.[9]
The famed 1.93 kilograms (4.3 lb) Allan Hills 84001 meteorite, commonly abbreviated as ALH 84001 and believed to be from Mars,[10] was found at Allan Hills, Antarctica in 1984. In 1996 NASA scientists announced that it might contain evidence for microscopic fossils of Martian bacteria based on the carbonate globules it contained.[11]
Meteorite scrambles
In the aftermath of the air burst of a meteor, a large number of small meteorites can fall to the ground, generally at terminal velocity, such as occurred with the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor.[12]
When that occurs local residents and schoolchildren will often seek to locate and pick up the fragments due to their potential value. In the case of the Chelyabinsk meteor, many were located in snowdrifts by following a visible hole that had been left in the outer surface of the snow.[12]
Many thanks, ETL!
You mean, the more the meteor.
“We got the house. And this dumb rock.”
Crap, I remember we had 2 of these things that we used to hold the doors open in the summer time. They were smooth and different shades, I can remember them well. I guess they weighted a couple pounds a piece.
Property owners rejoice! You don’t need a lottery ticket to win Meteorite Money! :-D
Thanks ETL. This is number three and Bill Clinton's hand is on someone's knee... some interesting sidebars below.
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Even if posted twice before in the past couple days, this is a large forum with folks coming and going all the time. Thanks for the sidebar links. Will check them out when I’m back on a PC tomorrow. Tiny smartphone tonight.
Damn, that there meteorite looks just like my doorstop & is only 1/4 as large as mine. I wouldn’t give it away for nothin’. Cat won’t go near it and the dawg’s eyes get reel big whenever he seez it. Holds the door in place just dandy no matter how high the northern wind blows. Vegetables grow 4 times as bog as all the neighbors when I place it out in the garden. It’s just a dandy rock.
bog = BIG, pardon my spellin, Ah was lookin at mah favorite rock.
Thanks for posting this and pointing out the other one. I'd have never gone looking otherwise, and probably not have pinged the Catastrophism list. :^)
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