Lab Confirmed Micrometeorite Find

[eannis6]

Hello all!

I am new to this forum, but I love searching for things like arrowheads, megalodon teeth and other fossils, and more recently micrometeorites! Most of what is read on non-scholarly sources about micrometeorites is not true. In fact, only about 12-15 people in the world have found lab verified micrometeorites! I have searched for months after much research, and I have finally found an extraterrestrial stone. Here are some SEM images of the find. Next I plan to search for full sized meteorites, a dream I’ve always wanted to accomplish.

Thanks for viewing

Ethan

 

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[Plumbata]

That is very interesting, but how did you locate (and pick-up/isolate) such a small item to begin with? Isn't it a basically invisible "space-dust" size particle? No idea if it would work but the only way that comes to mind would be placing an array of clean high-strength magnets at the highest point possible, and hope that they attract ferrous space-dust particles floating down. The image of the crystallization is great BTW.

 

[Plumbata]

A bit of further rumination on your find reminded me of a very strange experience I had when I was 6. I was playing in a raised-bed micro-orchard my father built in our yard in MD, and just a few feet in front of my face I saw and heard "something" woosh down and thunk into the garden/tree bed, too fast to get a good look of course but my memory is of a grey/metallic streak plunging into the earth. I was "sure" it was a meteorite but at the time had no idea what they should look like, and the shiny crushed schist landscaping rock didn't really help me as I clumsily scrabbled around looking for whatever it was. Maybe space-junk or maybe a meteorite, but I never found whatever "it" was and the experience has always been a mystery. Certainly wasn't bird crap; that's for sure.

 

[Oddjob]

Wow, thats cool; what are the odds that 2 users on the same forum in the same week would both find the same thing.

Pretty cool. I would say that you and Terry are all over it. Do you know each, I only ask because such odds are slim to none and I would think this is a very small circle.

 

[eannis6]

Thanks @Plumbata You’re actually pretty spot on. What I do is use a very strong magnet, go to large flat dust old roofs, sweep an area, sample the magnetic particles, wash the sample, sort the sample by size, and look for aerodynamic features and barred olivine lines. If I find any that match visual criteria, then I will send them to a lab for further testing. I sent 8 so far and one was confirmed with extraterrestrial origin!

 

[eannis6]

Thanks @Oddjob! I love finding other mm hunters, and I saw a post of his on here and wanted to chime in!

 

[Oddjob]

Thanks @Oddjob! I love finding other mm hunters, and I saw a post of his on here and wanted to chime in!

Yeah, I am not sure many speak the same language you two do in regards to this.

 

[eannis6]

A bit of further rumination on your find reminded me of a very strange experience I had when I was 6. I was playing in a raised-bed micro-orchard my father built in our yard in MD, and just a few feet in front of my face I saw and heard "something" woosh down and thunk into the garden/tree bed, too fast to get a good look of course but my memory is of a grey/metallic streak plunging into the earth. I was "sure" it was a meteorite but at the time had no idea what they should look like, and the shiny crushed schist landscaping rock didn't really help me as I clumsily scrabbled around looking for whatever it was. Maybe space-junk or maybe a meteorite, but I never found whatever "it" was and the experience has always been a mystery. Certainly wasn't bird crap; that's for sure.

How fascinating! I bet this sparked a lifetime of curiosity! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Hillbilly Prince]

Thanks @Plumbata You’re actually pretty spot on. What I do is use a very strong magnet, go to large flat dust old roofs, sweep an area, sample the magnetic particles, wash the sample, sort the sample by size, and look for aerodynamic features and barred olivine lines. If I find any that match visual criteria, then I will send them to a lab for further testing. I sent 8 so far and one was confirmed with extraterrestrial origin!

Are you using rare earth magnets?

 

[eannis6]

Are you using rare earth magnets?

I sure am!

 

[Charl]

Yep, people want to find the big stuff, or head to the known strewn fields, etc., but you can find them up on the roof too! Congrats on your find. Some great photos here:

https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/up-on-the-roof-a-handful-of-urban-stardust/

 

[eannis6]

Yep, people want to find the big stuff, or head to the known strewn fields, etc., but you can find them up on the roof too! Congrats on your find. Some great photos here:

https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/up-on-the-roof-a-handful-of-urban-stardust/

Thanks so much Charl! Great photos too!

 

[Nailemandjam]

I don't believe the odds are as great as is believed and my reasoning is that meteorites have fallen and fall everyday without end and on land and sea. There is no average that I'm aware, as to an where they fall most because it can happen on any part of the world. But when you apply the age of the planet then really there should be alot more meteorites scattered across the entire planet. The problem is that the landscape is ever changing. Our planet is ever moving masses of land around and well that tends to displace these space rocks. Also most humans can't tell the difference between a diamond and glass. The point I want to make is that the general public lacks the skill that some of us have at finding meteorites but that I don't believe makes them as rare as is believed, its that people don't know what to look for and you have all these people now that just think they found a meteorite.