[meteorite-list] Meteorite doubts emerge (the Norway "meteorite)

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Jul 12 12:41:03 2006
Message-ID: <479ab2td5vvap17f758pelprk7c86dbdma_at_4ax.com>

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1385336.ece

Meteorite doubts emerge
Astronomers were excited by what they thought was a meteorite that fell near a
Norwegian house over the weekend. Now an expert at the National History Museum
in Oslo says he thinks it's just an ordinary earthly rock.

Gunnar Raade of the museum told Aftenposten.no that he's convinced the odd-,
spongey-looking stone that Bj?rn Herigstad found in his yard near Stavanger on
Sunday is no meteorite.

"I have asked him to send me some pieces of the stone, but I can already say,
based on pictures I've seen on the Internet, that it's a rock from earth," said
Raade, who has worked with meteorites for 25 years.

Herigstad got the impression from local astronomers and a professor in
astro-physics that it was indeed a meteorite lying near a mysterious hole in the
ground that he also discovered on his property before finding the two-kilo hunk
of stone.

Now he wonders whether someone was playing a practical joke on him. He admits he
should have sought more professional opinions before contacting the media.

"I'll take good care of the stone regardless," he said. "I've never experienced
anything like this before."
Received on Wed 12 Jul 2006 12:39:45 PM PDT