4 Billion Year Old, Extremely Valuable Meteorite Used As Doorstop By Tennessee Family

Kind of reminiscent of the Buddah statue meteroite, now we have a Tennessee family who found a nice rock in a Kentucky field back in the 1930's, hauled it home and used it as a doorstop for decades, at one time even painting it green:

Source

Researchers from the University of Tennessee believe the ancient and very valuable rock came from a known meteorite strike that first turned up evidence in Tazewell, Ky. in 1853.

George Lewis first started to suspect his rock might be special after running a metal detector over it in May. To his surprise, the detector's dial registered "overload," reports the Lexington Herald-Leader.

“We’re extremely lucky to find something like this,” Cook said, according to an EKU press release, ” and to find one locally is a real plus for us.” The rock is estimated to be more than 4 and a half billion years old. In addition to being extremely rare, meteorites of this size are also valuable. In an October auction, cosmic rocks for sale had price tags ranging from the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to the Associated Press.

Very cool! The rock is really not that big for being 33 pounds, might have been a tip-off that it was not your average rock!

reply to post by 00nunya00


That's pretty awesome! Any idea on how they traced it back to a meteorite strike from 1853?

I'm also curious as to why it was painted green!

I laughed my head off when she said "painted it green"

Originally posted by 00nunya00

The rock is estimated to be more than 4 and a half billion years old. In addition to being extremely rare, meteorites of this size are also valuable.

Just so people arent confused, almost every meteorite is 4 and a half billion years old.
And while "rare" is a subjective word, it isnt quite as rare as the news article would have you believe. Its really a human interest story here rather than a scientific one. A quick check of the net reveals a few iron/nickel meterites of that size for sale, this one perhaps 4 thousand dollars.

Originally posted by alfa1
A quick check of the net reveals a few iron/nickel meterites of that size for sale, this one perhaps 4 thousand dollars.

Wow, can you give me a few examples? I wouldn't even begin to know where to find a 30-pound meteorite of any sort.

reply to post by 00nunya00


Good find OP - here is a pic for your thread.



S&F

Originally posted by Sublimecraft
reply to post by 00nunya00

 

Good find OP - here is a pic for your thread.

S&F

The real conspiracy here is how did that guy end up with that chick ?

reply to post by mazzroth


. Most girls are suckers for a big rock .

reply to post by 12voltz


reply to post by mazzroth


OFF TOPIC............

reply to post by mazzroth


Really? If that was my 'chick' I'd trade her in for a 33lb rock any day regardless of it's value.

Still, an interesting find. I always hope that I'm going to stumble across something valuable but so far... nothing.

Originally posted by Sublimecraft
reply to post by 00nunya00

 

Good find OP - here is a pic for your thread.

S&F

After reading a few replies I understand why the guy is laughing...but, why are they both laughing?

Originally posted by mazzroth
The real conspiracy here is how did that guy end up with that chick ?

The real answer is - he didnt.

The family took the rock to the Eastern Kentucky University, where they presented it to EKU's Department of Physics and Astronomy Chairman, Jerry Cook.

The actual partner of this woman can be seen in the picture ...

reply to post by alfa1


Did you compare this one with the original meteorite.

You cannot compare this to any old meteorite. If therehavr been none of this meteor strike found for decades, then this does make this particular one rare.

Don't you watch meteorite men? They are valued according to weight, which is grams. There are a lot of grams in 30 pounds.

Also if the meteorite is sliced into smaller sections and etched it is worth way more.

I hope the value in this is scientific rather than monetary since I see us sitting on a 4.5 billion year old meteorite anyways...

Well, nobody would think of stealing a rock used as a doorstop. Hidden in plain sight. It's better to use something than to have it sit in a display case somewhere. I suppose they have to get a new doorstop rock, what now, a three hundred carrot rough diamond?

reply to post by mazzroth


He's smiling because he's got her and she's smiling because she has something rock hard in her hand.