Opinion on possible meteorite

[Hveragerthi]

I found this rock that I found pretty interesting. The rock is shaped like a turtle shell. Curved and smooth on the bottom. The top is grooved. There is a black crust over most of the rock. It is strongly magnetic at various parts of the rock. When I cut it open I found it contains occasional balls of iron, which are the only magnetic areas.

The first attached photo shows the top. The second photo shows the bottom. And the third photo shows a cut piece showing the interior with one of the balls of iron.

[Goldfinger]

I've come across many rocks which are magnetic but that doesn't mean it's a meteorite. Should be interesting to see what this really is.

Steve

[dez-perate 4 nugs]

It is very hard to tell by looking at pictures, and I am no expert. You should definately hold on to it untill you can show one of the very knowledgable people on this forum

Paul

[Hveragerthi]

I've come across many rocks which are magnetic but that doesn't mean it's a meteorite. Should be interesting to see what this really is.

Steve

I realize magnetism does not make a rock a meteorite. I have already disposed of quite a number of magnetic rocks. In fact, if it were a meteorite, then the rock would seem to fit an achondrite better than any other type based on what I have learned. And these are generally not magnetic. It is a combination of things that has made me wonder. Such as the black crust over most of the rock. The relatively smooth surface, with dimpling over some of the top of the rock. The fact that all the iron in the rock has formed in balls. That the rock is not characteristic of this area, etc. I was born and raised here, and have always collected rocks here. I have never seen a rock like this. And I was especially curious about the fact that all of the iron in the rock is in the form of balls. Therefore, I was really curious if anyone had ever seen anything lie this in a meteorite.

My main interest has been in non-iron meteorites. So I cut the rocks, check for the presence of certain metals with chemical analysis, and also check their inclusions and consistency under a microscope. This gives me a better idea of which ones may actually be meteorites. On the other hand, I run across rocks occasionally that have very unusual features to them, and it is nice to have extra eyes looking at them to see if they have ever run across anything like the inclusions. And it helps to actually have someone to look at these when they have dealt with actual meteorites. There is just too much misleading, wrong, or ambiguous information about them on the net. For example, I cut open a rock about the size of a softball that looked exactly like a howardite according to all the pictures I have seen. But according to everything you read, they say that meteorites are 2 to 3 times heavier than terrestrial rocks on average. This rock was not that heavy so I disposed of it. Then I talked with a meteorite dealer a few months ago who showed me a number of his meteorites. He showed me a howardite that looked just like mine, but was a little smaller. I was really surprised at how light the rock was considering everything I had read. His rock had not only the same look, but the same density, and same texture as the rock I had disposed of. So now I do not dispose of any rocks that I am uncertain of until I have other people check them for me.