[meteorite-list] Meteorite Find Would Be Out Of This World

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:55:49 2004
Message-ID: <200201221647.IAA26939_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.ohio.com/dist/ns/010884.htm

Meteorite find would be out of this world

Medina County man hunting for sky rocks worth a small
fortune

BY BOB DOWNING
Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio)
January 22, 2002

CHIPPEWA LAKE: A Medina County man is pursuing a pot of gold.

Rich Nowak, 33, of Chippewa Lake, is not chasing rainbows, but he is busy
tracking down two meteorites in northern Indiana.

He has what he considers a solid lead on a large and potentially valuable
meteorite near Plymouth, Ind., about 30 miles south of South Bend.

But he's not saying much more about that rock from space, at least not yet.

The amateur meteorite hunter signed an agreement in late December with an
Indiana family to search a 70-acre tract on their farm near Plymouth for a
second meteorite that dates to 1872.

That pear-shaped meteorite is 3 feet by 4 feet and could weigh up to 1,000
pounds, according to historic accounts. It could be worth $300,000 to
$500,000, with museums and private collectors willing to pay that kind of
money for them, he said.

Nowak, who makes air purification equipment for a living, and Helen
Schneider's family would equally split the proceeds from the sale of that
meteorite, a chunk from an asteroid that fell to Earth.

He and a few friends have been searching the farm on weekends and at
other times.

He twice failed to find the 1872 meteorite by using a metal detector. Now he
hopes to use infrared photography to find the now-buried meteorite when the
weather warms.

He was drawn to Plymouth after reading an article on the 1872 meteorite in
the American Journal of Science that was published in 1895. His efforts have
attracted widespread attention in Indiana, with news reports appearing in
papers in Plymouth, South Bend and Indianapolis.

Meteorites are now Nowak's passion, but he was first drawn to them only two
years ago after seeing one tumble from the sky.

He has founded what he calls the International Meteorite Society, and he
has bought meteorites online. But he has yet to discover a meteorite.

Only 11 meteorites have been recovered in Ohio, so Nowak, who declined to
be photographed, said he intends to focus his meteorite hunting in Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Michigan.

It is a hobby now, but Nowak admits he would like to turn his meteorite
hunting into a full-time occupation.

Finding a large meteorite would be ``like winning the lottery,'' said Nowak,
who attended Highland and Medina high schools and Cuyahoga Community
College.

``It's a golden opportunity,'' he said. ``It could be lucrative, although it hasn't
been lucrative yet. . . . But meteorites are worth more than diamonds and
gold. And there's very little competition because most people are clueless
about meteorites.''

Meteorites are not that rare -- two or three a day crash to Earth -- but
identifying them from less valuable earthly rocks is difficult, said Gerald
Newsome, a professor of astronomy at Ohio State University.

Meteorites tend to be iron-nickel or stony specimens. The metallic meteorites
are less common and more apt to end up in museums, he said. The stony
ones are more common, harder to find and more likely to crumble, he said.

But meteorites can fetch substantial amounts of money from museums and
collectors, depending on their size and condition, he said.

``There's always a chance of a payoff,'' he said of the chances of finding a
valuable meteorite, ``but it's a long shot.''

Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or
bdowning_at_thebeaconjournal.com
Received on Tue 22 Jan 2002 11:47:41 AM PST