(Another) Is this a meteorite?

A person I know found this object a number of years ago. According to him, he was walking through fields while hunting and got a glimpse of something falling through the sky. He searched the area and found this object on the surface of a field, with about 2/3rds of it implanted into the earth.

It weighs about 1127g, and has a density of about 2.5 g/cm^3.

Any ideas? Pictures aren't great.

Standman

Check if it attracts a magnet.

Standman

Standman wrote: »

Check if it attracts a magnet.

Should have included that. Yep, it attracts magnets.

Edit: It's not magnetic itself (it doesn't deflect a compass' needle, for instance), but it's magnetically attractive.

MeteoritesEire

ok couple points here.That thing looks extremely weathered-highly unlikely if not impossible that your friend saw this object falling from space.
superficially it almost meets a quick eye test but there appears to be some stratification on the lower right on one of the pictures.This would rule it out.Stratification is not present in meteorites.

The density is likely too low.It appears to be metallic and iron meteorites have a density of about 7 to 8
there are some meteorites called carbonaceous which have density of 2 to 3.5 but this object is almost certainly not a carbonaceous chondrite--doesn't have the right shape or look
link to meteorite density chart----> http://meteorites.wustl.edu/id/density.htm

link to meteorite i.d. tests

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> http://meteorite-identification.com/streak.html

if he could grind a flat surface into the interior and give us a look it may help.A simple diamond tipped file would suffice.I'll lend him one if needs be

odds are almost nil that this is a meteorite but he should definitely explore and make sure as it would be Irelands first ever "cold" find and worth a lot of money

MeteoritesEire

MeteoritesEire wrote: »

ok couple points here.That thing looks extremely weathered-highly unlikely if not impossible that your friend saw this object falling from space.
superficially it almost meets a quick eye test but there appears to be some stratification on the lower right on one of the pictures.This would rule it out.Stratification is not present in meteorites.

The density is likely too low.It appears to be metallic and iron meteorites have a density of about 7 to 8
there are some meteorites called carbonaceous which have density of 2 to 3.5 but this object is almost certainly not a carbonaceous chondrite--doesn't have the right shape or look
link to meteorite density chart----> http://meteorites.wustl.edu/id/density.htm

link to meteorite i.d. tests

---

> http://meteorite-identification.com/streak.html

if he could grind a flat surface into the interior and give us a look it may help.A simple diamond tipped file would suffice.I'll lend him one if needs be

odds are almost nil that this is a meteorite but he should definitely explore and make sure as it would be Irelands first ever "cold" find and worth a lot of money

Thanks for the detailed reply, MeteoritesEire.

I just performed the streak test and it meets the characteristics of magnetite (or maybe iron slag?)—it easily leaves a dark grey to black streak. So that would indicate fairly decisively that it's not a meteorite. The person who owns it is adamant he caught a glimpse of something falling, which I found and still find hard to believe. Spotting a rock its size falling at perhaps 200mph seems unlikely. He did find it a number of years ago—perhaps 10 or 15 years, and it's been sitting in his shed ever since—and his description sounded believeable: he said it was cold to touch and was implanted slightly into the Earth. I'll get a diamond file and see what its interior looks like.

MeteoritesEire

yeah it was always unlikely.Contrary to popular belief however , newly fallen meteorites are reported to be cold to the touch with some reports of frost even recorded.
if this is iron when you peek inside there is no way it's a meteorite.Likely an old hunk of slag--*sigh*

our best hope of finding a meteorite is likely lying in some farmers field out there.Lots of them are dug up when farmers plough their land.At least in America anyway
One was found in an old boundary wall in England a couple years ago by someone who knew what to look for.
I'm constantly scanning any old walls I see for that elusive space rock.No luck yet

Zubeneschamali

MeteoritesEire wrote: »

I'm constantly scanning any old walls I see for that elusive space rock.No luck yet

All rocks are in space.

RebelButtMunch

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

All rocks are in space.

Rocks are mostly space

MeteoritesEire

we are mostly space :-)