[meteorite-list] The Sommelsdijk "meteorite": is not a meteorite

From: Marco Langbroek <marco.langbroek_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:50:03 +0200
Message-ID: <48633C1B.1000309_at_wanadoo.nl>

Last Saturday- on Sunday night between 22:00 and 10:00 an object hit a farm in
Sommelsdijk on Flakkee, one of the Dutch islands, and caused damage to a window
post. Thought was going towards a possible meteorite impact.

Yesterday afternoon I visited the farm for an inspection of the object and the
damage it did.

When I arrived there were two camera teams waiting, and shortly after a third
arrived plus two radio teams.... Didn't expect all that attention!

So last evening I could see myself back in the 23:00 national TV news....

It is not a meteorite. Much too weathered. What it is, I am not sure. Initially
I thought it could be a piece of natural bog iron, but it seems a bit too solid
metallic for that to me. The metal appears a bit soft though, not as hard as you
would expect from industrial steel.

The damage to the window post is considerable. It is a thick polymer window
post, so quite some force was needed. The window post was new, placed a mere 4-5
weeks ago. I doubt whether simply throwing the object would have been able to
create such damage.

  From the impact marks, I'd say it came in under an angle of no more than 40-50
degrees with the horizontal. It did not come from the direction of the road, but
from the direction of the agricultural fields. There were no machines working
the field that night though.

So: not a meteorite, but it remains a weird case.

I have the object temporary on loan for a further inspection at our faculty.

- Marco


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Dr Marco Langbroek
Dutch Meteor Society (DMS)

e-mail: meteorites at dmsweb.org
DMS website: http://www.dmsweb.org
private website: http://www.marcolangbroek.nl
-----
Received on Thu 26 Jun 2008 02:50:03 AM PDT