[meteorite-list] Metallic Rock Baffles Experts

From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Jul 31 22:39:49 2006
Message-ID: <009f01c6b513$b9d35a00$954ee146_at_ATARIENGINE>

Hi,

    Can you tell that yesterday it was 100.4 F.
(previous record 98 F.) and today it's 102 F
(previous record 93 F.) with 94% humidity?
A nice day to sit in front of the computer at
a balmy 82 F (with 40% humidity) and worry
about odd metal rocks probably not from
space...

    Meteorite? No way!

    Is this another contest? If so, I vote for
Molybdenum. Yup, Molly Be Damned gets
my vote!

    Here's the photo:
http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/photo/18667900_ddn073006mysteriousrocksp2.html

    This is naturally occuring molybdenum ore:
http://www.edzone.net/~tzielask/molybdenum_-_no_label.jpg

    Molybdenum metal in two states of fusion:
http://www.krdnet.com/EBAY/Galleries/october/DSCF2836.JPG
It can be quite granular.

    Polished molybdenite:
http://www.mii.org/Minerals/photomoly.html

    What's "Molly Be Damned" doing in Ohio?

    Any real experts (not me) on The List?


Sterling K. Webb
-------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Baalke" <baalke_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>
To: "Meteorite Mailing List" <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, July 31, 2006 11:20 AM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Metallic Rock Baffles Experts


>
> http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/073106mysteryrock.html
>
> Rock baffles experts; can't figure out what it is
>
> A Preble County farmer found the very heavy, likely man-made
> pieces on his property.
>
> By Steve Bennish
> Dayton Daily News
> July 30, 2006
>
> A mysterious 400-pound load of metallic rubble found by a Preble County
> farmer in a creek near his home is baffling geology experts at Sinclair
> Community College who have tried to analyze it.
>
> The material appears to be man-made and the result of some industrial
> process, but even after a half-dozen common tests over many weeks, its
> composition and origin remains unknown, said Anne Henry, associate
> professor of geology at Sinclair.
>
> The material's unusual properties have baffled testers, Henry said.
>
> Some of it has been found in 20-pound chunks the approximate shape of
> squashed bread loaves with scorched, blackish exteriors. Broken open,
> the chunks have bright, aluminum-colored, granular interiors with some
> traces of green or gold. It does not attract a magnet, nor is it
> radioactive.
>
> The hardness of the material is remarkable, measuring between an eight
> and a nine on the scientific Mohs scale of hardness, harder than steel
> and in the range of precious stones like topaz.
>
> It's also extremely dense, greater than iron and on par with a lead ore
> or bronze alloy. Exposed to temperatures of 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit,
> the material didn't melt. Scrape a piece of it on unglazed porcelain, a
> common geology test, and it leaves a blackish streak.
>
> Research into possible industries in the area that might have generated
> the material as waste has come to no conclusions, Henry said.
>
> Mike West, the farmer who found the metal, said he was enjoying an
> afternoon with his granddaughter this year on the 80 acres he farms in
> northern Preble County when he was throwing some rocks in the creek. "I
> picked up one rock and it was unusually heavy, so I saved that one."
>
> Weeks later, still intrigued, he returned with a metal detector. The
> detector lit up on the piles of rocks in the creek.
>
> If someone dumped the material long ago, it would have been a tough job.
>
> Not only is the stuff heavy, but the driveway is three-quarters of a
> mile from the road. The owner of the land moved there in 1968 and has no
> knowledge of the deposit, West said.
>
> West at one time thought it might be the remains of a meteor impact.
> Henry doesn't think so, and is pretty much convinced the material is
> man-made. Henry hopes that more sophisticated testing, using equipment
> the college doesn't have on hand, will expose the nature of the deposit.
>
> Her best guesses are that the material is some form of industrial ingot
> or casting. She's hoping a local expert or business will volunteer to
> provide some guidance or more advanced testing facilities.
>
> "From a geology point of view, I'd like to know what it is, what its
> industrial application is and why it is sitting in this guy's field,"
> Henry said.
>
> Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7407 or sbennish_at_DaytonDailyNews.com.
>
> Want to help?
>
> To volunteer expertise help Anne Henry identify the rocks, you can reach
> her at (937) 512-4560 or write her at: Anne Henry, Geology Department,
> Sinclair Community College, 444 W. Third St., Dayton, OH 45402 or e-mail
> anne.henry_at_sinclair.edu.anne.henry@sinclair.edu.
>
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Received on Mon 31 Jul 2006 10:39:34 PM PDT