Have I found a meteorite ??

Hey ATS,

Just went out for a little metal detecting, after a wile my MD gives a signal I haven't heard before (strong).

The rock attracts magnets en disturbs a compass, It's about 3 centimeters

Hope you fellows can help

Regards and sorry for the bad grammar

Looks like one to me. And if it has all the properties you mentioned then I would say yes you have found one.....very cool and probably worth a nice chunk of change.

If you're near a college or university with a geology department I would take it there. It could just be a piece of magnetite.

Yeah looks like you got yourself a nice little earner there.

It could be, it also could be slag from a metal working foundry. Slag sometimes have strange properties.

The only way to find out is to bring it to someone who knows about meteorites.

I have a chunk of Nodular Magnetite that has a black coating on it. It is either nodular magnetite or an iron meteorite. It will distort a compass and also gives off Ions. Without testing it is impossible to tell and I am not into paying to have that done. It's a neat rock and it didn't cost me a cent yet.

I'd go with Toromos. Take it to academic type professionals and get their opinion. That source as opposed to a rock shop or commercial people who may lie to get it from you cheap.

I am in agreement with rickymouse. It looks like the slag that they bed railroad tracks in with. But you can have it tested for free. I believe ASU does that as well as other schools.

no....that could be made on earth.......with irons (10% of all reported) it would be mostly iron and real obvious and heavy....with chondrites(rocky...90 % of all reported) they generally look like rock amalgum....not really a cinder....the regmorlyphs are too small.....(thumbprint marks)

Hate to be the bearer of bad news But you have 100% without a question NOT a meteorite unfortunately

The telltale is the little tiny holes which form when gas escapes from terrestrial rocks and slag. Real meteorites will not have these pockets of gas and therefore will not have these holes. I have made the assumption before when looking for meteorites but after several trips to the Royal Ontario Museum I have gotten the facts I needed to ID them.

Here is one of my real Iron Meteorites for reference. See the fusion crust on the outside which looks like leather? That is from the extreme temperatures when entering the atmosphere.

reply to post by drneville


How about posting up some pictures of your detector? Maybe some pictures of you using it and other stuff you have found too? Between Kingman Arizona and Las Vegas Nevada an ancient meteor exploded and people are still finding pieces of it today with detectors.

reply to post by drneville


is it magnetic if so then it may well be one

good luck anyway

Might be something volcanic.

Well, i found it on a cornfield near a 17th centurie castle, never found any junk metal their, only coins
Thanks for the help

Could be Bloom from a furnace, smell it, is it whiffy....hope it's a Meteorite though...good luck....

reply to post by drneville


Did you find it anywhere a old building or house, or were you metal detecting by a old foundation? If so there is a chance that it is coal slag. Which is produced in the bottom of any coal fired furnace that has any moisture, the iron oxide can give it a ferrious content. If not by all means have it checked out.

I know where there are tons and tons of rocks like those. They are in a forest near me, where iron was mined many years ago. I am sure they are related to mining and iron but am not sure how.

Originally posted by Tylerknight
Hate to be the bearer of bad news

But you have 100% without a question NOT a meteorite unfortunately

The telltale is the little tiny holes which form when gas escapes from terrestrial rocks and slag. Real meteorites will not have these pockets of gas and therefore will not have these holes. I have made the assumption before when looking for meteorites but after several trips to the Royal Ontario Museum I have gotten the facts I needed to ID them.

Here is one of my real Iron Meteorites for reference. See the fusion crust on the outside which looks like leather? That is from the extreme temperatures when entering the atmosphere.

Those pictures look like a steak that I left on the BBQ grill to long.

The second picture : on the top i have made a cut with a metal grinder, i'ts as hard as steel
Should i cut it in half ???

reply to post by drneville


No if you are going to have it looked at. You should seal it in plastic to avoid any futher contamination. Just in case it is one.

Tylerknight is right. And although we might think of them having little hole like craters they are in fact smoother because they have been superheated in our atmosphere. Especially if they are metallic in origin they will have little or no holes.

Here is a great resource to help you determine what you have found!

So you think you found a metorite?

see answer 6.
Does your rock have bubble holes (vesicles)? Most meteorites don't have vesicles.