[meteorite-list] Intergalactic False Alarm: Novato Meteorite is Just a Rock

From: JoshuaTreeMuseum <joshuatreemuseum_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2012 10:39:12 -0400
Message-ID: <1A37A5CFE4D941548DCD694A279CD07C_at_ET>

Shawn,

I agree, the second rock doesn't look like a meteorite either. Has it been
examined by an expert?

Phil Whitmer
Joshua Tree Earth & Space Museum


Hello Listers

Just found this, might be interesting for others that are hunting for
meteorites in Novato area.

"After a fireball streaked across the Bay Area sky last Wednesday evening,
scientists and locals alike have been on the hunt for pieces of the meteor
that is believed to have made landfall in the Bay Area.
On Tuesday the meteor astronomer with the SETI Institute who reported over
the weekend that the first piece of the meteor was found after it hit the
roof of a Novato home clarified that the suspected meteorite discovered
there is actually a natural rock.
Dr. Peter Jenniskens with the SETI Institute said on his NASA Ames Research
Center webpage the house of administrative nurse at the University of
California at San Francisco Lisa Webber was hit by something during the
fireball's descent last Wednesday evening, but the meteorite remains
elusive.
After an examination using a petrographic microscope Monday, Jenniskens was
able to conclude the rock was not a meteorite.
He wrote Tuesday, "I sincerely thought it was, based on what appeared to me
was remnant fusion crust. On closer inspection, that crust was a product of
weathering of a natural rock, not from the heat of entry."
The 2-inch rock is 63 grams, dense and responds to a magnet, according to
information from the SETI Institute, a nonprofit scientific and education
organization that has projects sponsored by NASA and other foundations and
research groups...."

source:
http://millvalley.patch.com/articles/intergalactic-false-alarm-novato-meteorite-is-just-a-rock

The sample that was first found looks like the second sample that was found.

Shawn Alan
IMCA 1633
Received on Wed 24 Oct 2012 10:39:12 AM PDT