[meteorite-list] Celestial Gold May Be Buried Under Farm's Soil

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:55:46 2004
Message-ID: <200201132357.PAA26811_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.starnews.com/article.php?meteorite13.html,news

Celestial gold may be buried under farm's soil

19th century meteorite, potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars,
may lie under Hoosier cropland.

By Rob Schneider (rob.schneider_at_indystar.com)
The Indianapolis Star
January 13, 2002

PLYMOUTH, Ind. -- Their modest rural home sits about five miles southwest of
this city, where farm fields spill across the horizon. From there, Helen
Schneider and her two sons lease their land for hay and soybean crops, and
generally lead a quiet life.

"We've got stars and everything," Schneider said.

"Everything" might include an 1872 meteorite, maybe weighing hundreds of
pounds and potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is
believed to lie somewhere beneath Schneider's 60-acre farm, buried after the
farmer who then owned the land got tired of hitting it with his plow.

The meteorite was a local legend long before Schneider, 86, moved to the
farm more than 30 years ago. But no one ever was able to find it, so she
didn't give it much thought.

But now the land has caught the imagination of a Ohio meteorite hunter who
is determined to unearth the cosmic interloper.

Rich Nowak, 33, who lives near Cleveland, spends his days making parts for
air purification equipment but dreams of treasure. Two years ago, he saw a
meteorite tumble out of the sky. He's been hoping to find a meteorite ever
since.

He was drawn to Plymouth after he found an 1895 article in the American
Journal of Science. It referred to the 1872 meteorite, describing it as 4
feet long and 3 feet wide.

Nowak approached the Schneiders before Christmas and reached an agreement
with them to split equally any proceeds from the sale of the meteorite. He
has tried to find it twice with metal detectors and hopes to use infrared
photography later.

"It doesn't cost too much to go out, and to me it's better than playing the
lottery," Nowak said.

If he finds the treasure, the discovery could prove lucrative.

In the past 20 years, interest among collectors in acquiring the rare
objects has caused prices to skyrocket. In general, meteorites can sell for
$2 a gram or more. Extremely rare ones can sell for several thousand dollars
a gram, said Meenakshi Wadhwa, curator of meteorites at the Field Museum in
Chicago. About 28.6 grams equal an ounce.

While collectors are motivated by owning a rare object, museums are
interested in meteorites because of the information they provide about the
formation of the solar system.

"If you look at an iron meteorite, or a stony meteorite" -- two of the ways
meteorites are classified, based on their mineral content -- "you are
looking at a piece of a small planet that got disrupted sometime in its
history," said Denton S. Ebel, associate curator of meteorites at the
American Museum of Natural History in New York and a Purdue University
graduate.

But often, folks don't know they're sitting on a celestial gold mine because
they didn't see the meteorite fall.

And where they land is completely random, Ebel said. "It's like winning the
lottery."

Schneider doesn't know if she and Nowak will win that lottery. But asked
whether she thinks Nowak can find what others couldn't, she smiled.

"I hope so. I hope so."

If not, she still has the stars above.
Received on Sun 13 Jan 2002 06:57:03 PM PST