[meteorite-list] Missouri Field Rock Actually $1 Million Meteorite

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:23:43 2004
Message-ID: <200303031730.JAA19019_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.stjoenews-press.com/Main.asp?SectionID=81&SubSectionID=272&ArticleID=38172

Field rock actually $1 million meteorite
By LINDSEY V. COREY
St. Josesh News-Press
March 3, 2003

FAIRFAX, Mo. - Gary Wennihan won the lottery.

But it took a couple years to figure it out, and he hasn't cashed in yet.

The Fairfax farmer's retirement might come early because the heavy rock he
found turned out to be a one-of-a-kind meteorite.

"They say the odds of just picking it up like I did, well, I'd be more
likely to be struck by lightning," said the 61-year-old. "We've spent
millions to go to the moon, so to just walk up on something from outer space
is a rare experience. You just don't do that everyday."

The rock was just one of many Mr. Wennihan was tossing aside in a soybean
field in the fall of 2000.

"I took it with me because it was different - heavier and rusty," he said.
"You sure don't want something like that going through your combine."

And so the million-dollar meteorite banged around in the back of his pickup.

When he thought of it, Mr. Wennihan showed people the rock that he was
curious about, so curious he sawed it in half, revealing tiny crystals.

But no one took an interest. No one except fellow church member Ben Rogers,
who was enrolled in a geology class at Northwest Missouri State University
last year.

Mr. Rogers, 21, offered to take the rock to his professor for input.

"We get a lot of things in here, most of them common," said Richard Felton,
assistant geology professor. "But I knew right away that this was something
truly interesting."

So he and Mr. Rogers dug right in. It didn't take long for the two to polish
away the layers of rust and find a shiny metallic surface beneath.

"It was beautiful, almost like chrome it was so shiny," the student said.

Just after midnight, they stopped their frenzied research and testing. Mr.
Felton 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, Mr. Felton had seen meteorites only behind museum glass.

"I really needed someone who'd actually held and studied them," he said. "So
I showed it to my colleagues the next morning and didn't say a word. I
didn't want to embarrass myself."

Dr. Renee Rohs' face lit up immediately.

"It was just one of those things," the assistant geology professor said. "If
you ever saw one, you never forget it. My first instinct was that it was a
stony-iron meteorite, the rarest kind of meteorites, and it was a pretty
strong instinct."

Dr. Rohs took the specimen to a University of Kansas professor who'd studied
and taught her about meteors and gained confirmation of its rarity.

>From there, half of the rock was sent to the Institute of Meteoritics at the
University of New Mexico for further analysis. A leading meteorite expert at
the University of California at Los Angeles also repeatedly tested a sample,
comparing it to others, only to learn that nothing from the same asteroid
has been found on earth.

"It's unique in the true sense of the word," Dr. Rohs said. "There's nothing
else like it in the world, and I'm just amazed we had the opportunity to be
involved in the process. It"s been a fun ride."

But the ride is not over for the meteorite's owner.

"I'm holding onto it until I get a good offer, and it may never come," Mr.
Wennihan said. "I'm certainly not holding my breath. And in the meantime,
I'm just having fun with it. I suppose I could buy my wife a chain of beauty
shops, but she's already got one and that'd be kind of like buying her a
sweeper for Christmas."

Mr. Wennihan said he's still not sure how much money it would take for him
to part with the rock that he's been showing to service clubs and school
children.

"It's not like a load of corn or a bushel of beans," he said. "There's no
established market. It's more like antiques. People want what they can't
have."

Dr. Rohs said other meteorites that only have a few matches have brought
$500 per gram. After small samples were donated to Northwest, UNM and UCLA,
about 1,800 grams or 4 pounds remain.

"This is presumably worth more," she said. "But it's hard to put a price on
it."

Despite Mr. Rogers wanting to remain anonymous originally, meteorite brokers
approached him on campus.

"People actually showed up here looking for me," he said. "It was kind of
scary. We had a lot of offers from people trMP**AdId=446" or cheap before we
knew what it was. Someone offered $10,000 for half of it, which actually
seemed like pretty good money at the time. I'm really glad we waited and got
help from the professors here. I give them all the credit really.

"Knowing the truth is baffling. It brings so many possibilities to mind, not
only what do we do with it, but what can be learned from it."

Dr. Rohs said the meteorite, which she's used to illustrate lessons, has
more value than monetary.

"As a geologist, it's another piece of the puzzle to understanding the solar
system and earth," she said.

Mr. Rogers of Craig, Mo., said he'd like to have a piece of it himself.

"I'll never have the chance to possess anything like it again," he said.
"How many people do you know that have a meteorite?"
Received on Mon 03 Mar 2003 12:30:56 PM PST