Oriented meteorite or random shape of the stone ?

[Greg352]

Hi,

What do you all think about below pictures ? I took this from the ground because I thought that I have found fossil shell. After deeper investigation I just can suspect that maybe I have found chondrite meteorite.

shape similar to Adamana meteorite -> http://www.tucsonmeteorites.com/mpod/ajibyavpmc.jpg

- no magnetic properties

- shiny metal flakes can be visible from the bottom (just a little)

- light can penetrate inside (dark shell lightening)

[mn90403]

'Earth' is a meteorite if you go back far enough so to say but this rock doesn't have the qualities of what are normally called meteorites.

[Morlock]

Looks like basalt in the form of a lava bomb.

Not a meteorite.

[GotAU?]

It does have a shape that suggests it fell like an oriented meteorite.  Curious looking for sure. As it’s translucent it appears to be glass or an agate? If its natural glass (obsidian) maybe from a volcanic ejection, or else it’s artificial. What type of geology exists where it was found?  

Edited August 8, 2021 by GotAU?

[Morlock]

A few years ago someone from the Lovelock, Nev area found something similar to the one in this post..only much bigger. It was a lava bomb that was ejected from a volcano. That's what the OP has.

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, GotAU? said:

It does have a shape that suggests it fell like an oriented meteorite.  Curious looking for sure. As it’s translucent it appears to be glass or an agate? If its natural glass (obsidian) maybe from a volcanic ejection, or else it’s artificial. What type of geology exists where it was found?  

It is quite the cooling looking obsidian lava bomb with the backlight. I wonder if any UV wavelengths would make it fluorescence...

If that's  the natural translucence and polish , imagine if a little unnatural polish were discretely applied.

 

[Mike C...]

Melted beer bottle  

[Bedrock Bob]

8 minutes ago, Mike C... said:

Melted beer bottle  

Yup. It's not obsidian for sure. It is the wrong color completely. I would say it is an artifact.

You could tell whether it is glass or agate pretty easily by flaking a piece with a copper tool. But it is either agate or an artifact. And from the color and shape I would bet it is an artifact.

[GotAU?]

39 minutes ago, Bedrock Bob said:

Yup. It's not obsidian for sure. It is the wrong color completely. I would say it is an artifact.

You could tell whether it is glass or agate pretty easily by flaking a piece with a copper tool. But it is either agate or an artifact. And from the color and shape I would bet it is an artifact.

What colors are obsidian?

Edited August 8, 2021 by GotAU?

[GotAU?]

Another remote possibility- impact shock metamorphosed glass or agate? Some other pieces of shocked rock look conical with fractures radiating towards the apex like that…

Maybe our friend was visiting the Jornada del Muerto Valley out at the Alamogordo Bombing Range… or it’s a UFO (Mike threw a partially melted beer bottle in the air yelling “hot, hot, hot!”)

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by GotAU?

[Bedrock Bob]

38 minutes ago, GotAU? said:

What colors are obsidian?

Greens, yellows and greys. Never hues of red.

 

[Bedrock Bob]

20 minutes ago, GotAU? said:

Another remote possibility- impact shock metamorphosed glass or agate? Some other pieces of shocked rock look conical with fractures radiating towards the apex like that…

Maybe our friend was visiting the Jornada del Muerto Valley out at the Alamogordo Bombing Range… or it’s a UFO (Mike threw a partially melted beer bottle in the air yelling “hot, hot, hot!”)

 

FYI. Just for the sake of accuracy...

The Alamogordo bombing range is in the Tularosa valley. Not on Jornada Del Muerto. The Jornada is west of the bombing range on the other side of the San Andres mountains from the Tularosa Valley.

The "Alamogordo bombing range" is an area within the White Sands Missile Range. The Jornada del Muerto is public, state and private land to the west of the WSMR boundary.

I don't see any fractures in that piece. It looks like an homogenous blob with flow characteristics. It is exactly the shape and color of melted glass. It sure could be an agate and it may have fractures. But I will bet it is glass.

 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Mike C... said:

Melted beer bottle  

I stand corrected. But the off-color obsidian lava bomb theory had me goin'.

Now  , I am picturing packed sand in a form, being stabbed at a central point, multiple times by a wooden dowel(roughing out the meteorwrong) at different angles- then molten glass is poured.

Or an, uh, 

[GotAU?]

5 hours ago, Bedrock Bob said:

FYI. Just for the sake of accuracy...

The Alamogordo bombing range is in the Tularosa valley. Not on Jornada Del Muerto. The Jornada is west of the bombing range on the other side of the San Andres mountains from the Tularosa Valley.

The "Alamogordo bombing range" is an area within the White Sands Missile Range. The Jornada del Muerto is public, state and private land to the west of the WSMR boundary.

I don't see any fractures in that piece. It looks like an homogenous blob with flow characteristics. It is exactly the shape and color of melted glass. It sure could be an agate and it may have fractures. But I will bet it is glass.

 

Sorry, my geography is off- but shatter cones from high energy shock waves from meteor impacts and atomic bombs are about the same shape and size and have similar stress lines- maybe the melting occurred after the shock hit the material??

It would help to know where it came from, along with its density and hardness.  With that weird color, perhaps it’s even a cast of a real shatter cone? I would think that it’s translucency is unusual if it is a real one.

 

References: https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F3-540-31080-0_98

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/maps.12678

Edited August 8, 2021 by GotAU?

[Bedrock Bob]

42 minutes ago, GotAU? said:

Sorry, my geography is off- but shatter cones from high energy shock waves from meteor impacts and atomic bombs are about the same shape and size and have similar stress lines- maybe the melting occurred after the shock hit the material??

It would help to know where it came from, along with its density and hardness.  With that weird color, perhaps it’s even a cast of a real shatter cone? I would think that it’s translucency is unusual if it is a real one.

 

References: https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F3-540-31080-0_98

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/maps.12678

It is roughly the shape of a shatter cone for sure. But I just don't think that's possible. It's made out of the wrong stuff.

It silica. The trick to identifying it is hardness. It is either a natural silica (agate) or man made (glass).

There is a big density and hardness differential between the two materials and IMHO that is how you would identify it. 

Usually a specimen has cracks, chips, or breaks that will pretty much clue you in to hardness. Glass breaks with long, thin conchoidal flakes. Agate is much tougher stuff and breaks with shorter flakes that often terminate in hinge or step fractures. This piece shows no such flaws. So without doing some testing it is a mystery.

The OP indicated it had what looked like metal flakes on the bottom. If it was melted glass the bottom surface would be the "cast" surface. I don't see a photo of the bottom. I think this is the only visual clue that might help identify it. The bottom surface may tell the tale. If it is fairly flat or concave it would indicate an artifact. If the surface revealed a "cast" finish that would also indicate an artifact. If a close up photo with backlighting revealed bubbles it would indicate an artifact. 

If it does have metallic flakes then this will reveal some info. It would almost guarantee that it is an artifact. Translucent, microcrystalline minerals rarely if ever contain metal. So there is that.

Glass is softer, more brittle and much lighter than agate. So a good test would be flaking or cutting the piece. And comparing the weight to glass.

Most translucent agate has cortex associated with it. Most agate has chunky fractures. Most agate has drastic changes in color and opacity. The photos don't show any of that. 

It isn't fractured or pitted on the surface with hertzian fractures. This indicates it is not too old.

So those are the observations that lead me to believe it is glass rather than agate. If the OP wants to dig deeper then a close up of the surface with powerful backlighting might help. As well as a close up of any fractures or chips. It has several inclusions in the surface. A close look at those might reveal some info. And whether those inclusions are just in the surface for extend into the interior. Finally a little pressure with a copper tool might indicate toughness. 

IMHO it is glass or agate. It is definitely not a meteorite nor obsidian. Nor is it a shatter cone despite the similarity in shape and profile.

If I could hold it in my hand and get a look at the inside by holding it up to the sun I think I could correctly identify it immediately. But short of that the OP is going to have to make a few more observations and post a few more close up photos.

 

[GotAU?]

7 minutes ago, Bedrock Bob said:

It is roughly the shape of a shatter cone for sure. But I just don't think that's possible. It's made out of the wrong stuff.

It silica. The trick to identifying it is hardness. It is either a natural silica (agate) or man made (glass).

There is a big density and hardness differential between the two materials and IMHO that is how you would identify it. 

Usually a specimen has cracks, chips, or breaks that will pretty much clue you in to hardness. Glass breaks with long, thin conchoidal flakes. Agate is much tougher stuff and breaks with shorter flakes that often terminate in hinge or step fractures. This piece shows no such flaws. So without doing some testing it is a mystery.

The OP indicated it had what looked like metal flakes on the bottom. If it was melted glass the bottom surface would be the "cast" surface. I don't see a photo of the bottom. I think this is the only visual clue that might help identify it. The bottom surface may tell the tale. If it is fairly flat or concave it would indicate an artifact. If the surface revealed a "cast" finish that would also indicate an artifact. If a close up photo with backlighting revealed bubbles it would indicate an artifact. 

If it does have metallic flakes then this will reveal some info. It would almost guarantee that it is an artifact. Translucent, microcrystalline minerals rarely if ever contain metal. So there is that.

Glass is softer, more brittle and much lighter than agate. So a good test would be flaking or cutting the piece. And comparing the weight to glass.

Most translucent agate has cortex associated with it. Most agate has chunky fractures. Most agate has drastic changes in color and opacity. The photos don't show any of that. 

It isn't fractured or pitted on the surface with hertzian fractures. This indicates it is not too old.

So those are the observations that lead me to believe it is glass rather than agate. If the OP wants to dig deeper then a close up of the surface with powerful backlighting might help. As well as a close up of any fractures or chips. It has several inclusions in the surface. A close look at those might reveal some info. And whether those inclusions are just in the surface for extend into the interior. Finally a little pressure with a copper tool might indicate toughness. 

IMHO it is glass or agate. It is definitely not a meteorite nor obsidian. Nor is it a shatter cone despite the similarity in shape and profile.

If I could hold it in my hand and get a look at the inside by holding it up to the sun I think I could correctly identify it immediately. But short of that the OP is going to have to make a few more observations and post a few more close up photos.

 

This is why I enjoy reading user responses here, a lot of knowledge is shared. I think you are right in your analysis even with the small amount of information we have.  I agree with you about the weird color, maybe it is a cast of the real thing.  If OP collected it from Meteor Crater, Az, maybe it came from the gift shop… 

[Shokmelt]

Well, there has been a lot of interesting speculation and analysis in this thread. Hopefully the OP with provide us with more info

and some more pictures. Especially of the bottom of the object. That way maybe we can at least rule out that it's some sort of

landing capsule for an alien-ant invasion.   After all, we already have enough trouble trying to identify all of the invasive species.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, GotAU? said:

- but shatter cones from high energy shock waves from meteor impacts and atomic bombs are about the same shape and size and have similar 

It would help to know where it came from, 

 

References: https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F3-540-31080-0_98

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/maps.12678

 A pile of old bottles-from  the Trinity site- final answer

[GotAU?]

1 hour ago, Stillweaver hillbelli said:

 A pile of old bottles-from  the Trinity site- final answer

Why not? Soldiers boozed it up big time back then. We found the motherload of old beer bottles, over 800 of them, piled and lined up like soldiers in the sand as their crates had disintegrated in a remote part of Patton’s Desert Training Center.  Wonder if it was a last celebration before the marching orders came in?

Anyways, not sure why it is that shape, but that object certainly looks like it is made of brown beer glass.

Edited August 9, 2021 by GotAU?

[Bedrock Bob]

3 hours ago, Stillweaver hillbelli said:

 A pile of old bottles-from  the Trinity site- final answer

They vaporized lots of equipment in the blast. Probably not many beer bottles.

Where copper wires were vaporized it created red trinitite. A VERY rare material. 

I hunted Oryx all around the blast site. The crater really isn't that big. Only a couple hundred feet in diameter. There is a building in the bottom and an 8' chain link fence around the berm. Outside that fence we had free access.

I walked around that fence and for a mile in every direction looking for a chunk of glass... I mean Oryx. No luck.

The ground around the blast site is remarkably unremarkable. Limestone gravel and creosote scrub brush. The only thing on the ground was chunks of Nike Ajax solid rocket propellant from other (non nuclear) blasts.

The surface of the rocks facing the blast seem to be a lighter color. Other than that you would never know that you are standing well inside the main blast fireball. I didn't see anything that looked melted or burned at any distance away from the epicenter.

The closest bottles to the blast would have been the ranch house that Oppenheimer and Einstein used for their headquarters on site. It is several miles away from the blast site.

We parked at the ruins and walked all over the place. It was a ranch headquarters before the war. It was commandeered with the rest of WSMR for the war effort. If a guy could run a metal detector there you could make a million dollars on artifacts. Sadly you can't get within 15 miles of the place without official business, clearance and a mighty thorough inspection.

So the object in the photo is probably not from Trinity Site. 

I think a much more likely explanation is glass formed where an alien spacecraft took off. The energy created when blasting off is huge and it could create cone shaped glass under each thruster. Since alien crafts generally have multiple thrusters there could be thousands of "thrusterites" formed from their many takeoffs.

A good strategy may be to investigate any reported anal probes in the area and look for thrusterites in those areas. 

Thrusterites command top dollar on eBay. So if this is a thrusterite it could be worth a lot of frogskins. Or duckets. Whichever form of currency butters your biscuit.

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by Bedrock Bob
I'm afraid I edited this post multiple times. If anyone's head explodes over this see if your eyeglasses have formed a new mineral from the pressure of the blast.

[Mike C...]

Spontaneous beer bottle combustion  

Maybe a Tektite ? Heres a Safordite

Edited August 9, 2021 by Mike C...

[Greg352]

Thank you for all analysis and suggestions. This rock was found in south-west Poland on the field (clay soil).Not much to say about this area...

Weight = 58 g

Density: 2.14 g/cm3 (Archmiedes Principle)

Below more photos:

 

And here photos with sunlight.

[Bedrock Bob]

It's agate IMHO.

Chalcedony/carnelian.

[Guest]

It resembles an oyster shell or similar.

Edited August 9, 2021 by Guest

[GotAU?]

I think you guys are right, maybe it’s a fossil gastropod that has been replaced with agate.  OP said found in a clay field, sounds like a marine environment.

Edited August 9, 2021 by GotAU?