I visited my Geocache today and did some overdue maintenance. The grass was higher than I’ve ever seen it, and the hillside was lush with Arizona Poppies. We’ve had a record monsoon season, and it shows.
The cache had sustained major damage from the storms, which meant digging out, replacing the leaking container, drying things off and restoring everything to its original position. If I hadn’t followed my GPS, I would never have found it. The area is so overgrown I didn’t recognize it.
When I’d finished, I hiked for a few hours. I have a new pair of boots from REI that I need to break in. They’re pretty stiff, but comfortable in the right places.
I walked slowly, alert for rattlesnakes in the tall grass. I didn’t see any snakes, but I did manage to find about 20 small meteorites to add to my collection.
Meteorites are fairly easy to spot in the desert because the ground is hard and (usually) there isn’t much grass for them to hide in. Most of them are small, about the size of your little fingernail to golf ball size. There are lots of dark rocks around, but meteorites are always quite heavy for their size, and they generally attract a magnet — the core of a meteor is what survives entry into our atmosphere, and it’s made of a mixture of nickel and iron.
I like looking up at the stars and wondering how far these little bits of space debris traveled before they were captured by the earth’s gravity. A long way, I imagine.
It was a beautiful day to be out in the fields of the Lord.
Biosphere 2
Poppies
Meteorites
Hi Charlie!
I recently read a fascinating article about geocaching in the Christian Examiner (or was it the Good News etc.?). I had never heard of such a thing until I ran across that article. And now I find out that you are into it! Sounds like a lot of fun!
That photo of the Arizona poppies is just gorgeous! No one will ever convince me that a Godless, mindless, purposeless, materialistic, mechanism-missing, by-chance-only theory of Darwinism could ever have created something so beautiful as those poppies!
hey well i really like the meteorite picture and its going to help me out on my research project and i really like the arizona poppy
we have found meteorites that look like the ones on the website. we were on a bike trail and spotted them. we found 98 magnetic rocks and we did our research and we are lead to believe they are meteorites and we don’t know who to contact for help. we need to find out if they are real or just fake. Thank you for time and help.
I have been collecting rocks for 35 years. I just found out that at least 7 of them are meteorites. Your picture confirms this.Yay!
I have four rocks similar to those in this picture. They are very magnetic, too. Could these possibly be meteorites? I live 60 miles So. of Lubbock, TX. Friend of mine has a very large one, but different looking to mine and much larger. They say it is part of a larger meteorite. Thanks for any enlightment. NB
I stay at my boyfriend’s house in San Antonio and he lives on a private property owned by Mrs. Lewis. It’s a fenced in area for people to live and there are a lot of deer and woods; also a creek. We go around the block, up in the rocks and find A LOT of meteorites. Some as big as my thumb, some smaller, but it’s really neat to go and look for them.
On holiday recently in Corfu, looking around the beach collecting various types of rocks, I came across a rock that stood out from the rest –
I think it could be a meteorite,it is similar in colour and size to the above examples, looks to me very much like meteroric iron – but it is also stuck fast to another type of smooth white stone; the middle layer the rock is smashed into lots of bits and compacted right where the two pieces are stuck together.(Possibly due to the impact)
I cannot imagine how this could be man-made in any way; I can only think that this red-hot meteorite smashed into some rocks, and settled there for some time before the tide washed it out to sea. I would really like a second opinion, is there anywhere can I can send in a photograph to get a second opinion?
Many Thanks,
David
prison guard hit by meteorite(piece) pea sized /bean shaped/ golden color/ 2 burn marks / one on each side/ has small clear stones also/ need help in identifing. thanks alex j.rynkiewicz/ i think it is a chondrite L 6-7 with fusion coat blown off.
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This is really beautiful.
dear sir i work as a prison guard in wilkes-barre,pa and on 9july09 940pm i was hit by a meteorite piece in the head and it lodged in my cap. it is small flattened bean shaped and sized/ weight 3 to6 grs/non magnetic/ has 2 dark marks,one on each side like ablationor staining under fusion crust/ no crust-blown off. carbide feel to touch/has golden color/ many small chondrules/ may be OCH5 stoney meteorite piece. need help in identifing it. thanks alex j rynkiewicz
good to hear such an interest in meteorites, however every rock that is NOT magnetic you can be 99.99% sure that it is NOT a meteorite. If it IS magnetic then you have only narrowed it down a bit and cannot say with certainty whether it may be earth-made hematite/magnetite, some kind of industrial slag, or a real genuine meteorite. Please “google” meteor-wrong and compare pictures to some actual meteorite falls and some more field tests to perform.
If still convinced, you can have a small portion sent off to a reputable lab to be tested. Major universities with good science programs often offer such work,
or check out the link below:
http://www.meteoritestudies.com/protected_FOUND.HTM
best of luck and keep searching!
–
Russell
Charlie,
What you share is truly awesome.
last month i was outside and i saw a meteorite coming my way about 75 yards away all of a sudden it blew up. everyone within a 3-4 block radius came outside to see what was going on.noone daid a gun or a shotgun,not even fireworks.i did not tell anyone about the impact or explosion i wittnessed.i went hunting and found a peice about half the size of a mans fist.now i know where more of it is cause i saw it explode but cant get it.its on a business rooftop in pico rivera ca.thats all i c an say until i find a way to get up there and bring it down..
When we first moved into our house we went for a walk on the property. There was an object that caught my eye. Having decided it was unique, knowing what I know about Geology, it didn’t look anything like its surrounding partners. Most of the surrounding rocks are granite. There is also some quartz in the same area. The front side of it is flat and appears to have been heated from the way it entered through the atmosphere. I noticed its characteristics were like that of a meteorite so I tested it and other rocks with a magnet and noticed there is most certainly a magnetic pull. I would like to know by comparing it with other meteorites to know what it might be worth.
I would have to agree that sharing is caring.