Thursday, February 26, 2009
By Ken Sury
Tribune-Herald staff writer
WEST — Meteorite hunters have descended in droves to the countryside surrounding this farming community, searching for the elusive pieces from a fireball that flared across the daytime sky over Central Texas and then broke apart.
But while the fireball and its accompanying sonic boom Feb. 15 were spectacular, West residents say they’ve got better things to do than hunt for the thousands of fragments that litter the land and might not even be on their property.
Spring planting is a focus for the farmers now. That meteorite hunters from across the country are asking to traipse across their fields looking for stones the size of a pecan or smaller at a crucial time for planting has more than a few farmers and ranchers perturbed. In some cases, people didn’t ask and trespassed.
Video: In search of the Texas meteorite (continued)
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“The seedbed is down, and we’re getting ready for the season,” said the West-area rancher and farmer whose family found three small meteorites on their land right after the fireball and gave them to an amateur astronomer two days later.
But his fields and that of numerous other northern McLennan County cattlemen and farmers are off-limits now. The longtime farmer, who is not being identified because he doesn’t want any more meteorite hunters on his property, said the last thing he needs are people tamping down the soil with their footsteps this time of year, especially with the lack of rainfall in Central Texas. Not to mention that he worries that gates left open or fences down might allow cattle to escape or mix with select breeding stock.
Others have expressed fears that they could get sued if someone steps in a hole and breaks an ankle while on their land.
Big money rocks
The meteorites, even as small as they are, are worth money, which has meteorite hunters from across the country searching.
The Tribune-Herald received this e-mail: “I am a meteorite dealer from Denver. I am looking for fragments of the large meteorite that may have struck near Waco. Will pay 5000/kilogram for any pieces found. If you would like to talk, I can be reached at . . .”
That equates to $5 per gram, about the weight of a paperclip. A quarter-sized piece of chondrite, the most common type of stony meteorite, would weigh about 25 grams.
Dr. Dwight Russell, a physicist who teaches an astronomy class at Baylor University, said he had one call from someone wanting him to look at a possible meteorite. He examined it and said it was definitely not one.
“Most of us (astronomers) aren’t trained at it,” he explained. “You could put astronomers in a room full of rocks and it would look like a room full of rocks. But it’s easy if you know what you’re looking for. That comes from experience. Still, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
Hunters come running
While an Arizona-based meteorite-hunting group was rejoicing in its first find Feb. 18, one sample from that farmer’s field was already in the lab being classified by UCLA research geochemist Dr. Alan Rubin.
Having it classified makes it an official meteorite, and that’s important, said Doug Dawn, an amateur astronomer and physical chemist who lives in Monterrey, Mexico. Dawn and two fellow amateur astronomers arrived in West two days after the meteor pieces landed.
They were headed to Texas anyhow on a planned expedition when another friend, Rob Matson of Los Angeles, text-messaged them in Deming, N.M., about the fireball video that was on the news. Matson began general triangulations, thanks to the video shot by a News8Austin cameraman during the Austin Marathon and radar images, that put the group on a path toward Central Texas.
After driving through the night, Dawn, Dima Sadilenko and Sergey Petukhov talked to West townsfolk and learned about a family that found a couple of pieces while the son-in-law was putting in a fence post, Dawn said. The man heard the sonic boom overhead, as well as one rock hitting a tin shed. Another rolled up near his foot, Dawn said, adding that the man initially thought his girlfriend was tossing stones at him.
But the meteorites looked different from other rocks, so they kept them and then shared their find with Dawn.
“The landowners need to get the credit,” Dawn said. “They are just wonderful, big-hearted Texans.”
More info
Testing finds
Dawn, who agreed to family members’ request to respect their privacy by not discussing the location of their finds, said his group found 12 stones in all, including one that he dug out from a deposit of cow dung.
One of the members flew out of Austin and took a rock to UCLA for classifying, Dawn said. The group was fortunate that someone was available to cut a sliver of the rock so Rubin could analyze it under a high-tech microprobe instrument, Dawn said.
There’s usually such a backlog of specimens waiting to be classified that getting that done in less than 72 hours is almost a miracle, Dawn said.
Dawn said thousands likely fell as the meteor broke up, but the rocks could be hundreds of yards apart.
While the meteorite hunters originally were searching for a “strewn field” — a generally elliptical area where the rocks are distributed — from Hubbard to Aquilla, many have shifted their focus to the south of West in an area from Hubbard to Tokio.
Not that any of it matters to West-area residents . . . unless someone’s on their property without permission.
ksury@wacotrib.com
757-5750
Comments
By Roxann Z.
Jun 27, 2009 2:00 AM | Link to this
I have a large rock that looks nothing like I've ever seen before. It has almost a shimmer to it. It is about the size of a large grapefruit. I am wondering who would I take it to for further classification.
By S. Ray DeRusse
May 27, 2009 8:57 AM | Link to this
It's amazing to me that certain scientists connected to this group from UCLA are still allowed to come near meteorites. Administration just do not learn.
bccmeteorites.com
By linda
Mar 2, 2009 2:57 PM | Link to this
Hey, I'd charge a fee for looking on property. Also it would be fun to let kids or boyscouts do an organized and sanctioned meteorite hunt after harvest for an outing. Lot of possibilities for kids to learn something and get outdoors. Share the profits with land owners!
Linda
By Eric
Feb 27, 2009 8:35 PM | Link to this
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all the kind landowners out there who have been gracious and extremely generous in allowing us to hunt for meteorites on their property. We are humbled by the generosity we've experienced and have met some very nice people and made new friends.
Contrary to what some West, TX locals have heard about us meteorite hunters that are here, most of the meteorite hunters that are here are very professional and will not enter onto any land without permission. This is a BIG no-no in our rule of ethics. Most people would agree their are bad appples in every barrel that can spoil the whole lot. Don't judge a meteorite hunter by ones stupidity. All hunters should get permission to hunt on private land.
The meteorite that fell on West Texas is scientifically important and many of these pieces wil end up in museums, universities and scientific laboratories across the world.
I would have to agree with John on his statement. Many of us are here from over 1000 miles away and we spend our own money to get here and while here we are giving many of your local stores and shops much needed business. We do offer fair prices for the meteorites found. Not all meteorites are worth the same as there are many different types, just like cattle, crops, and cars everything has a different value.
Thanks again to West Texas. We really appreciate your generosity and hospitality.
By MikeG
Feb 27, 2009 2:17 PM | Link to this
Gerald,
The $15,000 auction was probably not a meteorite and if it was, it probably wasn't from this Texas fall. It smells like a scam. I am a meteorite collector, but not a hunter. Such prices are sensationalistic and belong on the cover of the National Enquirer. Anyone who trespasses without landowner permission should be punished, but to lump a bunch of honest hardworking people together with scam artists is not right. I respect your sentiment of property-owner rights, but do your homework on meteorites before drawing broad erroneous conclusions based on limited secondhand information.
Regards,
MikeG
By Gerald
Feb 27, 2009 11:11 AM | Link to this
My cousin just chased a bunch of them meteorite hunters off this property where they had no right to be. I saw on the news where they will be auctioning off a meteorite for $15,000.00. How much are the ranchers getting from these scam artists for their meteorites? I wish they would just all go home and leave us in peace. We don't need any trouble down in this area as we have enough as it is already.
To all meteorite hunters- Please just go home and leave us alone. There's got to be other areas where you can hunt for meteorites.
Gerald
By Gerald
Feb 27, 2009 10:51 AM | Link to this
All these meteorite hunters are a bunch of scam artists who are making a fortune selling these meteorites while compensating the landowners just cents on the dollar if that much. My cousin just chased a bunch of them off my his property. These people think they can run around and trespass with impunity while making a good amount of money doing it... Cousin has his shotgun out and will shoot first and ask questions later. A word to all meteorite hunters- make sure you have permission to hunt that property or risk the consenquences.
Gerald
By David
Feb 27, 2009 1:15 AM | Link to this
I live in Waco and I think I found a meteorite fragment in my backyard yesterday. I know every foot of my backyard and it caught my eye almost immediately when I looked down.
I also happened to see the white cloud left behind from the falling meteor exploding in the sky and the flash just before it disappeared. It seemed to be pretty close to my house, but I'm not sure about that. The sky was so clear, it was hard to tell.
What I found is a small rock that resembles in size to a half-eaten chicken-fried steak finger or 2/3 of a fishstick.
It looks like it's made of metal, but I put a very strong magnet to it and there was no attractive effect upon it, so it must be a rock of some sort.
It's surface is very rough and looks a little "rusty" and like it's been scorched. It also seems to be very tightly compacted. It doesn't look anything like the rocks shown above, which are more round-like...mine is more rectangular, like earlier described.
Can anyone tell me what I have found? I suspect it's a meteorite, but what do I know?
I can be reached at orosz.david@sbcglobal.net
By Marc
Feb 26, 2009 6:38 PM | Link to this
That graphic in the lower right corner has a mistake in it. The first number is the petrographic grade, and it is not related to how long the meteorite orbited the sun. The number goes from 3-6 for historical reasons for this type of meteorite, and a 3 means that it is relatively unaltered from the time the meteorite first coalesced from a cloud of material. A grade of 6 means that it was very nearly melted while it was part of its parent asteroid. While a 6 is less desirable to collectors and scientists (usually) than a 3, any fresh fall like this one is exceedingly important to our understanding of these materials.
I was in West and did some searching myself, and I'd like to echo John's comment thanking the people of the West area for their hospitality! For what it's worth, my apologies for the small number of yahoos who trespass to search for meteorites - this kind of behavior is not appreciated or condoned by the majority of the meteoritic community.
By Dan Chevy
Feb 26, 2009 5:06 PM | Link to this
Really you people need to go home and let us get back to are lives here in Texas.
If I ever catch the people who ran around my land like a bunch of jackasses your going to get branded.
Dan Chevy
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