[meteorite-list] Meteorite found, per local press

From: Mike Miller <meteoritefinder_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2007 16:26:48 -0800
Message-ID: <468bf6050702061626q3904d467s27dacd0bbcf2df49_at_mail.gmail.com>

Keep trying Nancy that one is not a freshly fallen meteorite.

On 2/6/07, R Juhl <bartraj2 at mac.com> wrote:
> The Belleville, Illinois local newspaper ran the below article with a
> photo of the suspected meteorite over the midwest.
> (http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/columnists/16632503.htm)
>
> -------------
>
> It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a ... meteor rock?
> BY WALLY SPIERS
> News-Democrat
> This rock was found by Nancy Rettinghouse, 60, of Fairview Heights, in
> a lot near her home.
> Derik Holtmann/News-Democrat
> This rock was found by Nancy Rettinghouse, 60, of Fairview Heights, in
> a lot near her home.
>
> * Earlier story: Flaming objects seen in sky
>
> Nancy Rettinghouse had some of her family over to watch the Super Bowl
> on Sunday night but she ended up watching a much brighter spectacle.
>
> "I was sitting in my kitchen, watching the Super Bowl," she said. "Out
> in the back lot I saw a big yellow flaming thing falling straight
> down. I yelled and everyone asked what happened."
>
> When she told them she thought she had seen a meteor fall into a
> nearby vacant lot, no one believed her.
>
> "They said, 'Oh, Mom, it was just a light.' But I saw what I saw,"
> said Rettinghouse, 60, of Fairview Heights.
>
> That happened about 8 p.m., she said. When they watched the television
> news at 10 p.m. she heard about many reports about bright lights in
> the sky from area residents. Most authorities think it was a minor
> meteor shower.
>
> "So my husband went over to look around this morning and he found this
> odd rock," she said. "We'd sure like to know what it was."
>
> The reddish rock her husband found is about 2.25 inches long by 1.5
> inches wide and an inch tall. It was embedded about one-half inch in
> the ground of the lot, which usually is a garden.
>
> There are lots of meteorite identification sites on the Internet.
> Several have categories labeled meteorites and meteorwrongs, catch
> words for real meteorites or deceptive Earth rocks.
>
> Perhaps the best Web site is www.meteorites.wustl.edu by Randy Korotev
> of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington
> University in St. Louis.
>
> Any rock coming through the atmosphere would be melted on the outside
> by the intense heat, showing signs of what they call a fusion crust.
> Meteorites usually contain metals that will attract a magnet although
> that is not always the case.
>
> Their rock had neither of those things.
>
> "I did see something fall in the lot," she said.
>
> There appeared to be nothing else on the lot. But perspective can be a
> confusing thing. The view out the kitchen window is to the west and
> the last few feet of the view of the lot is obscured by a 6-foot-tall
> fence which stands about 100 feet away.
>
> "I don't want anyone to think we were drinking or something,"
> Rettinghouse said. "It sure will be embarrassing if it's not real. We
> just want to know."
>
> She said they probably will take the rock to someone who is an expert
> to have it identified.
>
> -------------
>
> Best wishes
>
> Robert J.
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-- 
Mike Miller Po Box 314 Gerber Ca 96035
www.meteoritefinder.com
     530-384-1598

Received on Tue 06 Feb 2007 07:26:48 PM PST