[meteorite-list] Mysterious Rock No Meteorite

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Jun 18 15:52:42 2004
Message-ID: <200406181952.MAA17091_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://times-age.co.nz/news2004/040618c.html

Mysterious rock no meteorite
By Sean Hoskins
Wairarapa Times-Ages (New Zealand)
June 18, 2004

A MYSTERIOUS Masterton rock initially thought to have come from
outer space is more than likely to be a naturally-occurring
phenomenon, according to a director of the International
Meteorite Collectors Association.

Ken Newton is on the IMCA board of directors and his duties
include helping new collectors and sellers identify their
suspect rock.

Mr Newton contacted the Times-Age after reading on the Internet
about Masterton man Gordon Kibblewhite's mysterious object
which he thought may have been a meteorite.

Mr Kibblewhite found the object on a Hawke's Bay beach five years
ago. He has previously sent it to the Carter Observatory and
Victoria University, which he said couldn't confirm the object
was a meteor but didn't say it wasn't either. He contacted the
Times-Age after reading about an Auckland family who had a
meteorite crash through their lounge roof and who subsequently
received calls from overseas enthusiasts offering thousands of
dollars for their space fall.

Mr Newton said in an e-mail communication that judging from the
Times-Age picture it was more likely Mr Kibblewhite's object
was a naturally-occurring iron ore formation." The photo is not
a meteorite," he said. "I would guess it is a botryoidal hematite
or a marcasite nodule ... (both are) pyrite nodules which are
naturally-occurring iron ore formations that are often mistaken
for meteors," he said.
Received on Fri 18 Jun 2004 03:52:29 PM PDT