[meteorite-list] Rare Stony-Iron Meteorite Kept In Missouri Garage For Two Years

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:54:06 2004
Message-ID: <200202192126.NAA15613_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://digmo.org/news/local/premium/0218local11163.html

Rare meteorite kept in garage for two years
Associated Press
February 18, 2002

MARYVILLE - One of the rarest types of meteorites, which
may date back 4.5 billion years, was kept in a Missouri garage for about two
years before a student brought it in to a geology teacher at Northwest
Missouri State.

The student, who wants to remain anonymous, brought the rusty rock into
Richard Felton's general geology class out of curiosity.

Felton and the student polished away the layers of rust and found a shiny
metallic surface beneath.

"It was looking more and more unusual as we worked on it," Felton said. "I
didn't think it could be a meteorite, but I didn't give up on it, either."

Just after midnight, Felton stopped his research and testing. He didn't want
to lose objectivity in his excitement.

"Geologists are a conservative bunch," he said. "I was still trying to
convince myself that something this rare couldn't be sitting in my office."

Besides, Felton had seen meteorites only behind museum glass.

"I really needed someone who'd actually held and studied them," he said.

He brought it to a colleague, Renee Rohs, an assistant professor of geology.

"I said, 'Oh my gosh, a stony-iron meteorite,' " Rohs said.

Rohs took it to a University of Kansas professor, who confirmed her
conclusions.

Rohs said stony-iron meteorites typically net between $2 and $10 per gram.
In the mid-1980s, there were only 73 in the world, one of them found in
Missouri, two in Kansas and one in Iowa.

A friend of the student who brought the meteorite to Felton found the rock
in his field near Fairfax.
Received on Tue 19 Feb 2002 04:26:28 PM PST