[meteorite-list] Man Unearths Meteorite in SW Kansas

From: Michael Groetz <mpg4444_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 10 May 2009 21:36:16 -0400
Message-ID: <ad733150905101836n61474299me616be43fb81fb43_at_mail.gmail.com>

Man Unearths Meteorite in SW Kansas

http://www.kwch.com/Global/story.asp?S=10336504

Posted: May 10, 2009 06:19 PM EDT

Updated: May 10, 2009 06:52 PM EDT


By Alana Rocha

(KIOWA COUNTY, Kan.)

They come from outer space and are embedded in fields across Kansas.
Countless meteorites, of all shapes and sizes are uncovered every year
here.

Eyewitness News traveled to the southwest part of the state to witness
the latest discovery and learn what it says about the area.

To most of us, it's a field with a rock sitting in a hole in the
middle of it. To Don Stimpson, "This is just a tremendously unique
area in the whole world."

As curator of the Kansas Meteorite Museum in Haviland, Stimpson has no
problem explaining why.

"We just have the streamfield of this meteorite, of this type of
meteorite in the whole world," he said.

Sunday just east of Greensburg, he was ready to unearth his latest
find - a rather odd-shaped piece Stimpson believes is a major chunk of
the Brenham Meteorites.

Brenham Meteorite History

It took Stimpson and some friends less than an hour to harness it in,
test the hold and hoist it out of the ground.

It's estimated the meteorite has sat in the ground 20,000 years. And
this day is the result of about two weeks of digging and a couple of
months waiting on good Kansas weather to lift it out.

Stimpson says, "Maybe not everybody is a rock hound, but certainly
within that community you can't help but be fascinated by coming out
and picking up a piece of rock that came from space."

With the meteorite in place, the Stimpsons make their way into town to
see how much it weighs.

"Looks like 1,220 pounds," Stimpson calculates.

He says of his find, "That's another one of the main masses from this
field. We've found several of them now. It's filling in the science of
how this thing came in and broke up there."

With a metal detector in hand, Stimpson vows to continue scouring the
fields in his area to help fill in the gaps.

Stimpson will now spend some time cleaning the meteorite before
displaying it in his museum near Haviland.
Received on Sun 10 May 2009 09:36:16 PM PDT