ltpaulbtv Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 * Group: Nugget Shooter Forum Members Posts: 4 Joined: Yesterday, 05:50 PM Member No.: 22173 I bought some land in Vermont and have heard from a surveyor that thousands of years ago a meterorite fell near the property. There is a large crater next to the property I live in Leicester, VT on Fern Lake. Now here is where it gets interesting. I have a metal detector and started searching one afternoon and got a overload hit which means a large metal object. I have a White's MXT detector. I started digging and did not really find any large metal object. It indicated it was near the surface. After checking the area further I noticed it was this stone that was making my detector go crazy. I dug it up and found a quite large stone just under the surface. I brought it back to the truck and when I arrived at the house I washed it off. It's about a 70lb rock! I started checking about meteorites and was trying to identify this stone. It does attract a magnet, It does show some rust stains. It sort of looks like it had a crust over it. It is not round but oval. It has a greenish tint and appears mostly smooth. I took a slice from it and polished it and it has metal chips through out the piece. I went back to the area and about a foot away I found another stone that had the same reading. I took samples from both stones and have the same results. What do you think it might be? I have four pictures so you can see what I'm talking about. I can add more pictures later. The second stone was split in pieces and when broken apart it has rust spots and small metal chips through out the piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil M. Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 Hello, ltpaulbtv Interesting find you've got there. I'm surprised you don't have any responses at all yet. The shape of the stone doesn't "say" meteorite at all. Being chunks of stone (or metal), meteorites tend to be angular in shape with rounded corners. Of course that's not to say a meteorite couldn't fall in a river or stream and become a rounded cobble. It's hard to tell anything from pictures, but the second photo could resemble a meteorite. Regards, Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ltpaulbtv Posted May 4, 2009 Author Share Posted May 4, 2009 Hello, ltpaulbtv Interesting find you've got there. I'm surprised you don't have any responses at all yet. The shape of the stone doesn't "say" meteorite at all. Being chunks of stone (or metal), meteorites tend to be angular in shape with rounded corners. Of course that's not to say a meteorite couldn't fall in a river or stream and become a rounded cobble. It's hard to tell anything from pictures, but the second photo could resemble a meteorite. Regards, Phil Thanks Phil for your response. I know the shape is a big question with me also. If it is a meteorite I'm sure it fell many years ago. We had a lot of glacial activity in this area. I'm thinking of sending a sample to get checked by a lab. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basaltgooroo Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 the second picture looks promising but the other ones look alot like metamorphic rock. Hopefully a university will tell you it's a meteorite. Good luck! [Erik] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ltpaulbtv Posted May 4, 2009 Author Share Posted May 4, 2009 the second picture looks promising but the other ones look alot like metamorphic rock. Hopefully a university will tell you it's a meteorite. Good luck! [Erik] Thanks, The second and fourth picture is a sample of the third picture stone. The fourth picture has a sample of the first and third picture which is hard to see. Just a little confusing! I'll slice some more samples and post some more pictures and keep everyone thats interested updated when I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regmaglitch Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Hey Paul, I like the second and fourth photos. I would send a sample to your local college meteorite lab. Make sure that the sample is: either 20% or 20 grams. Good Luck, Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteor-hound Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Hi ltpaulbtv: This looks very interesting. Is there any quartz in the matrix? Do you know what the white mineral is? If there is quartz, then that would be a sign of being terrestrial, most likely an igneous rock; meteorites rarely contain quartz. In any case, it would be interesting to determine what the silver flakes are. I also would comb the area and see if you can find more of this particular rock. Best of luck and thanks for sharing, Greg Stanley Bakersfield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ltpaulbtv Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 Hi ltpaulbtv: This looks very interesting. Is there any quartz in the matrix? Do you know what the white mineral is? If there is quartz, then that would be a sign of being terrestrial, most likely an igneous rock; meteorites rarely contain quartz. In any case, it would be interesting to determine what the silver flakes are. I also would comb the area and see if you can find more of this particular rock. Best of luck and thanks for sharing, Greg Stanley Bakersfield Hello Greg I e-mailed a Geology Professor at Middlebury college and hopefully he will be looking at it soon. It doesn't seem to look like quartz. The color is more of a brown/tan than a white, like the quartz I'm used to seeing. I plan on checking out the area a little more, at a later date. Thanks, Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ltpaulbtv Posted July 18, 2009 Author Share Posted July 18, 2009 Hi ltpaulbtv: This looks very interesting. Is there any quartz in the matrix? Do you know what the white mineral is? If there is quartz, then that would be a sign of being terrestrial, most likely an igneous rock; meteorites rarely contain quartz. In any case, it would be interesting to determine what the silver flakes are. I also would comb the area and see if you can find more of this particular rock. Best of luck and thanks for sharing, Greg Stanley Bakersfield I sent samples to New England Meteoritical Services and the tested results are not meteoricial in origin. The said they are terrestrial silicates with quartz and felspathic minerals. I sent one sample to Arizona State University and they said it does not appear to resemble the meteorites in our collections. Under comments they said terrestrial magnetite rich rock. So I guess it's not what I expected, but it was worth sending it to them. I wonder if it is worth doing anything with it. It must be a rare stone for this area. Nothing else around the area I found it. It was about a foot below the surface and had to be dug up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank c Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 I was born in Connecticut so I was a neighbor of yours, Since you found out its not a meteorite I have a suggestion for you, take it to an ANTIQUE STORE you have plenty of them in your state an place it for sale there. Its old and its rare so it fits in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ltpaulbtv Posted July 18, 2009 Author Share Posted July 18, 2009 I was born in Connecticut so I was a neighbor of yours, Since you found out its not a meteorite I have a suggestion for you, take it to an ANTIQUE STORE you have plenty of them in your state an place it for sale there. Its old and its rare so it fits in. Sounds like a good Idea. I was thinking of cutting it up an making jewelry or something. I do have a diamond tile saw and a diamond grinder and a polisher with cork wheel & felt wheel that I use for beveling glass. I am going to Pahrump NV in August for a wedding is there a place around there to look for meteorites or just walk in the desert. Or should I go to Death Valley. Thanks for the post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank c Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Sounds like a good Idea. I was thinking of cutting it up an making jewelry or something. I do have a diamond tile saw and a diamond grinder and a polisher with cork wheel & felt wheel that I use for beveling glass. I am going to Pahrump NV in August for a wedding is there a place around there to look for meteorites or just walk in the desert. Or should I go to Death Valley. Thanks for the post Funny you mention glass beveling, I was raised in the glass business in central CT. Then later in life had a couple stained glass studios, I've used alot of bevels over the years. Some one on here should be able to tell you about the Pahrump area for meteorites, I'm not familiar with it. I just sold a drywasher to a fellow there so I know its gold prospecting territory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freelancer79d Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 hey if you interested in finding out where meteorites are found email me at dustin.stober@navy.mil and i'll send you a KML file for google earth that shows all of the finds that are posted in the MetBull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ltpaulbtv Posted July 20, 2009 Author Share Posted July 20, 2009 hey if you interested in finding out where meteorites are found email me at dustin.stober@navy.mil and i'll send you a KML file for google earth that shows all of the finds that are posted in the MetBull. Thanks Dustin I'll e-mail you later my e-mail is ltpaulbtv@msn.com. I would really like to find a meteorite some day. I don't give up very easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.