Bolide Over Oklahoma/Texas 30SEP2008 photo

Bolide over Oklahoma/Texas 30SEP2008 by Howard Edin 
(c)2008 used with permission

Photograph Information
Date
09.30.2008, 02:19 CDT
Location
Kenton, OK
Camera
Canon 20D, Tokina 12-24 lens set for 12mm @f4.
Exposure
Single 30 second exposure at ISO 1600
Notes:
50°F, 75%RH, Excellent transparencyInitial RAW conversion, slight asinh stretch in IRIS. Calibrated with bias, dark and flat frames. Noise reduction in PixInsight LE 1.02 Additional adjustments in Photoshop CS2

David Wang captured the same meteor using a fisheye lens. See the Okie-Tex photo page for that image.
Source: Howard Edin http://www.howardedin.com/photos/otsp2008-bolide.html

An additional report on the Tamdakht, Moroc Fall UPDATE 1FEB09

Photos courtesy of M.Aid & Svend Buhl, text Svend Buhl

First meteorite finds
Several professional Moroccan meteorite prospectors launched search campaigns immediately after the first reports of a fireball sighting spread.
The terrain in the foothills of the High Atlas is challenging to say the least. Unlike the Hammadahs and Serirs of the Sahara desert it can not be searched by car due to steep ravines, boulder fields and numerous canyons and dry riverbeds with steep cliffs. It took the distinguished hunters two weeks to locate the first fragments by the help of local villagers.
On January 3, 2009 A. Habibi reported the first chondritic finds on the Meteorite Central mailing list. Fragments were sent to scientific institutions and distributed among collectors only days later under the synonyms, "Taliouine", "Ticka" and "Tamdaght".

The weather in the strewn field has changed in the second week of January, from dry cold to rain and storm. Thus search and preservation conditions for the meteorites still in field have worsened. While the first few reported finds displayed no or only minimal signs of oxidation, the finds from the end of January already show some rust staining on the fusion crusted surfaces. As the number of recovered fragments went from two to six it became clear that the bolide had fragmented and produced a strewn field. Many of the reassembled masses show angular shapes indicating that they stem from a larger mother body detonated in flight. The explosion sounds reported by the eye witnesses support the idea of one or more multiple detonations.

As most specimens we have been able to study so far show a thick (0.7 - 1.1 mm) fusion crust. The ablation process must have continued after the fragmentation. However, NO eye witnesses reported multiple fireballs.

The fusion crust of the Tamdakht meteorites shows a rough, vesicular texture and often displays bubbles in the submilimeter scale.

The strewn field
The strewn field was reported to stretch from Tourdjale to Oued. We could not locate these settlements on our topographic maps but we have been sent GPS find locations by three different finders who found a total of 6 masses.

These meteorites have been found 11 - 16 km northeast of the city of Tamdaght, at the far side of the Jebel Tachkoucht. Please note that this data may cover only a part of the actual strewn field.

Approximate trajectory according to eye witness reports and meteorite find location according to finder's GPS data given in red. Map public domain, courtesy of Texas University The meteorite finds were located on the southern flanks of the Jebel Anrhomer whose peak touches the sky at an altitude of 3607 meters. The terrain is shaped by dry river beds with a south orientation, which have cut into the limestone and clay bedrock. The common soil type in the wadis of the Asif Imouten and the Asif Anarhra are aluvial gravels composed of limestone, red sandstone, dolocretes and clay. The higher banks with little or no hydraulic gradient often show a blanket of a dark red laterite soil. The find locations are in altitudes around ~1550 meters. Most masses which have been found until present, including those with weights below 1kg, are commonly broken into many fragments due to the forces of impact.

The horizontal trajectory, shallow impact pits in the loose gravel soil and the total destruction of masses that did not impact rock but clay surfaces, may provide evidence that the meteorites did retain at least some of their cosmic velocity until they hit the ground at an altitude of 1500 meters. At present a total of at ~10 masses totalling ~45kg can be considered confirmed. As most masses were recovered in the shape of many fragments the exact number of recovered specimens is hard to establish. Several other masses of unknown weight have been reported, thus no second source was able to confirm these additional masses, of which one was said to have a weight of ~100kg. The largest mass reported fragmented on impact on the flank of a limestone outcrop and shattered in many pieces. These were distributed in a half circle around the impact site up to a distance of 30 meters. Images that show numerous small fragments of this mass in- situ can be found on the website of Phillipe Thomas.

Several other masses fragmented on impact. Among these a specimen of ~400g of which seven fragments were recovered. After reassembling this meteorite showed the shape of a delta or short boomerang, with thin flanks, but with no apparent signs of orientation (see 2nd image on this page). About 95% of the meteorite was recovered. More or less intact specimens found include a 2007g individual and a 1514g individual, both with impact marks and less than 5% of the mass missing. Cut sections of the Tamdaght meteorite show a chondritic matrix with small chondrules which are hard to spot, particularly on fragmented surfaces. Several of the specimens recovered show slickensides.
We will continue to report information on the Tamdakht meteorite fall here and we appreciate any assist from Morrocan meteorite enthusiasts providing images from the field and information on further finds.

(Note: this is a summary of Svend`s page 2; to view ALL photos and pages see the links below)
http://www.meteorite-recon.com/en/meteorite%20tamdaght%201.htm
http://www.meteorite-recon.com/en/meteorite%20tamdaght%202.htm
http://www.meteorite-recon.com/en/meteorite%20tamdaght%203.htm

Source: Dr. Svend Buhl, Germany http://www.niger-meteorite-recon.de/ 1FEB09

Libyan Desert Glass

Libyan Desert Glass with natural hole ~2kg FOR SALE
(click on photo for larger view)- photo by Dirk Ross

Ramirez-Cardona, M., A. El-Barkooky, M. Hamdan, K. Flores-Castro, N. I. Jimenez-Martinez, and M. Mendoza-Espinosa, 2008, On the Libyan Desert Silica Glass (LDSG) transport model from a hypothetical impact structure. PIS-01 General contributions to impact structures, International Geological Congress Oslo 2008, Oslo, Norway.

"Fragments of this glass are mostly scattered upon the exposed bedrock of Nubia group (Cretaceous sandstone), on a large surface area along wide corridors between dunes of the Great Sand Sea (SW of Egypt). This distribution is somewhat the result of the tektite fluvial transport occurring throughout the Oligocene-Miocene boundary."

http://www.cprm.gov.br/33IGC/1350834.html

PIS-01 General contributions to impact structures

http://www.cprm.gov.br/33IGC/Sess_303.html

International Geological Congress Oslo 2008

http://www.cprm.gov.br/33IGC/index.html

Source: Paul Heinrich, LA, USA

Website Meteorite News Requests

Thank you All that have contributed to help make this Website. If anyone has creditable news to add please contact me directly for posting: drtanukiATgmail.com (replace AT with @)

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CLUSTER MAP OF WHO IS WATCHING FROM WHERE

(Click on Photo for a better view)

CLUSTER MAP OF WHO IS WATCHING FROM WHERE 1FEB09

---Thank you ALL! 749 visitors, since 19JAN09, in 13 days!
United States (US)343
Germany (DE)72
Canada (CA)40
Italy (IT)37
Poland (PL)34
France (FR)28
Netherlands (NL)26
United Kingdom (GB)24
Japan (JP)20
Spain (ES)12
Morocco (MA)11
Sweden (SE)10
Luxembourg (LU)10
Australia (AU)9
Austria (AT)6
Switzerland (CH)6
Finland (FI)5
Belgium (BE)4
Russian Federation (RU)4
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Philippines (PH)4
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Bolivia (BO)3
Slovakia (SK)3
Europe (EU)3
Venezuela (VE)2
India (IN)2
Israel (IL)2
Romania (RO)2
Croatia (HR)2
Panama (PA)2
Iran, Islamic Republic of (IR)1
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2008 Meteorite News-UPI

2008 Meteorite News- source and links to stories-UPI/AP

DEC 2008
More Canadian meteorite rocks found
LLOYDMINSTER, Alberta, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Canadian researchers raced against winter weather to recover fragments of a 10-ton meteorite that slammed into the province of Alberta.

Scientists find meteor debris in Canada
Date: November 29, 2008 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Scientists said Friday they had found remains of a meteor that illuminated the sky before falling to earth in western Canada earlier this month.
University of Calgary scientist Alan Hildebrand and graduate student Ellen Milley found several meteor fragments near the Battle River along the rural Alberta-Saskatchewan border, near the city of Lloydminster late Thursday. They said there could be thousands of meteorite pieces strewn over a 7-square-mile area of mostly flat, barren land, with...
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Recent meteor strike debris found
CALGARY, Alberta, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Canadian researchers reported Friday they had found some debris from a 10-ton meteorite in Saskatchewan that lit up western skies last week.

UPI NewsTrack TopNews
News from United Press International, around the world around the clock ...

Witnesses: Large meteor streaks across Canada sky
Date: November 23, 2008 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Scientists say they hope to find remnants of a meteor that brilliantly lit up the sky before falling to earth in western Canada.
University of Calgary planetary scientist Alan Hildebrand called it one of the largest meteors visible in the country in the last decade. Widely broadcast video images showed what appeared to be a speeding fireball Thursday night over Saskatoon that became larger and brighter before disappearing as it neared the ground.
Hildebrand said Friday that he...
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Fiery meteorite wows Western Canada
EDMONTON, Alberta, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- An intensely bright and colorful meteorite lit up the skies over the western Canadian province of Alberta and sparked hundreds of emergency calls to police.

Researchers find ancient meteorite dust
PISA, Italy, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Italian explorers and geologists in the Antarctic report finding the world's largest and oldest cache of meteorite particles.

Sunshield created for the Webb telescope
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've created a sunshield for the James Webb Space Telescope that can withstand severe cold and heat, radiation and meteorite impacts.

UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News
Depression may hike COPD hospitalizations … NASA finds evidence of a wetter Mars … Saliva DNA may solve drug dosing problems … Scientist warns of 'digital dark age' ... Health/Science news from UPI.

NASA finds evidence of a wetter Mars
PASADENA, Calif., Oct. 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has found evidence that liquid water remained on Mars far longer than previously theorized.

Scientists prepare to study Mars samples
WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they are preparing for the day when they can study materials returned to Earth from Mars or other planetary bodies.

Aussie diamonds give clues to early life
PERTH, Australia, July 2 (UPI) -- Scientists said diamonds found in Australia may change the accepted time frame for the early evolution of life on Earth.

Physicist: Use nukes against asteroids
MOSCOW, July 1 (UPI) -- A Russian physicist says specially designed nuclear weapons likely would be effective in preventing collisions between the Earth and asteroids.

Study: UV light might find life on Mars
CORVALLIS, Ore., July 1 (UPI) -- U.S. and British scientists say they have developed a method using ultraviolet light that could identify any organic material present in the soil of Mars.

The almanac
UPI Almanac for Monday, June 30, 2008.

Tunguska Event a 100-year-old mystery
MOSCOW, June 26 (UPI) -- Scientists are in Siberia this week to mark the 100th anniversary of the Tunguska Event, a mysterious explosion that flattened millions of trees.

Early genes might have come from the stars
LONDON, June 17 (UPI) -- A British-led study has confirmed for the first time that an important component of early genetic material is extraterrestrial in origin.

Giant meteorite found in Sweden
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, June 13 (UPI) -- A massive meteorite weighing a staggering 2,607 pounds has been found near the northern Swedish village of Kitkiojarvi, officials say.

Mich.-shaped meteorite sells for $20K at auction
Date: June 9, 2008 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A meteorite resembling Michigan's Lower Peninsula has been sold at auction, but bidders weren't quite as smitten with the mitten as the seller expected.
The 75-pound nickel-and-iron meteorite sold for $20,000 Sunday at Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas. It had been expected to sell for $32,500 to $40,000. Michigan native Darryl Pitt, the meteorite's owner, says he is disappointed by the low price. He says he thinks the space rock is worth...
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Dinosaur dung, other ancient finds go up for auction in NYC
Date: April 29, 2008 Publication: Associated Press Archive
It may look like a geologic find, but the three-pound red and white fossil heading for auction in New York is actually a pile of dinosaur dung.
Bonhams New York puts the prehistoric deposit up for sale Wednesday along with such items as a 30,000-year-old woolly mammoth tusk, a giant beaver skull and a skeleton of a Russian Cave Bear. The dung looks like a rock on the outside and a colorful mineral inside. It's 130 million years old and is expected to sell for between $350...
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Dinosaur poo, meteorites up for auction
NEW YORK, April 28 (UPI) -- A New York auction house says it will hold an auction of meteorites, fossilized dinosaur droppings and other natural history artifacts.

Ind. police: Lights in sky a mystery
KOKOMO, Ind., April 17 (UPI) -- Police in Indiana's Tipton and Howard counties said they have received multiple reports of bright streaks of light in the sky Wednesday night.

Evidence of ancient meteorite strike found
GLASGOW, Scotland, March 29 (UPI) -- Geologists said a seam of stratified rock on the northwest coast of Scotland was formed by a major meteorite strike 1.2 billion years ago.

Peruvian meteorite confounds scientists
HOUSTON, March 12 (UPI) -- A meteorite that hit the earth in the Peruvian countryside last year should have never made it through the atmosphere, scientists say.

Canadian astronomers tape meteor fall
LONDON, Ontario, March 11 (UPI) -- Canadian astronomers at the University of Western Ontario are hunting for pieces of a meteorite they videotaped falling to Earth.

Comet dust resembles asteroid
LIVERMORE, Calif., Jan. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists said comet dust brought back by NASA's Stardust resembles a meteorite from the asteroid belt rather than an unaltered comet.
2008 Meteorite News-UPI


Researcher: Devastating asteroid that exploded over Russia was smaller than once thought
Author: SUE MAJOR HOLMES Associated Press Writer
Date: January 29, 2008 Publication: Associated Press Archive
An asteroid that exploded over Siberia a century ago, leaving 800 square miles of scorched or blown down trees, wasn't nearly as large as previously thought, a researcher concludes, suggesting a greater danger for Earth.
According to supercomputer simulations by Sandia National Laboratories physicist Mark Boslough, the asteroid that destroyed the forest at Tunguska in Siberia in June 1908 had a blast force equivalent to one-quarter to one-third of the 10- to 20-megaton range...
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2007 Meteor/Meteorite News-UPI/AP newswires

2007 Meteor/Meteorite News
Sources: -UPI/AP newswires

Asteroid nears Mars at 8 miles per second
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- An asteroid on a likely collision course with Mars could give scientists a look at what lies beneath the surface of the red planet.

Mars capable of forming organic compounds
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. space scientists have determined Mars, as well as similar planets, are capable of forming organic compounds -- the building blocks of life.

Watercooler Stories
Man eats record 103 burgers ... $53,000 charge at strip club challenged ... - Meteorite fails to draw high bids ... Recycled metal hippo stolen in New Zealand ... Watercooler stories from UPI.

Meteorite fails to draw high bids
NEW YORK, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- A piece of famous space rock -- a meteorite -- was pulled from a New York auction after it failed to generate high enough bids.


2 big meteorites don't sell at NY auction, but battered mailbox nets nearly $83K
Author: RICHARD PYLE Associated Press Writer
Date: October 29, 2007 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Two of the world's most famous meteorites failed to attract buyers at an auction Sunday, while an ordinary metal mailbox zapped by a falling space rock in 1984 was sold for the unearthly price of nearly $83,000.
A 30-pound chunk of the Willamette Meteorite, which was found in Oregon in 1902 and has been steeped in ownership controversies for more than a century, was offered by Bonhams auction house at an estimated value of $1.3 million but was withdrawn from sale after...
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Watercooler Stories
College night -- bring the little ones ... Better pull your pants up in this Ga. Town ... For some, science confirms shroud faith ... Pair became successful meteorite hunters ... Watercooler stories from UPI.

Pair became successful meteorite hunters
SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Two men who met at a gem show years ago have parlayed their shared interests to become a successful team of U.S. meteorite hunters.


NASA launches spacecraft on double-encounter mission in asteroid belt
Author: MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer
Date: September 27, 2007 Publication: Associated Press Archive
NASA took aim at the heart of the asteroid belt Thursday, launching a spacecraft on a nearly decade-long journey that will include two never-before-attempted close encounters.
The scientific probe Dawn is on a 3 billion-mile course that will have it meeting up with an asteroid named Vesta in 2011 and a dwarf planet called Ceres in 2015. They are the biggest members of the crowded asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and scientists hope that by studying them up close, some of the...
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Comet impact might have caused extinctions
BERKELEY, Calif., Sept. 25 (UPI) -- A U.S.-led team of scientists suggests a comet or meteorite exploding near Earth about 12,900 years ago was responsible for prehistoric extinctions.


Correction: Peru Meteorite story
Date: September 21, 2007 Publication: Associated Press Archive
In a Sept. 19 story about a crater in Peru, The Associated Press misidentified an expert who said it was caused by a meteorite. His name is Jose Ishitsuka, not Isisuka. He is an astrophysicist with the Geophysical Institute of Peru, not a geologist with Peru's Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute. ...
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Experts now say a rare meteorite likely caused Peru crater
Author: EDISON LOPEZ Associated Press Writer
Date: September 20, 2007 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Peruvian astronomers said Thursday that evidence shows a meteorite crashed near Lake Titicaca over the weekend, leaving an elliptical crater and magnetic rock fragments in an impact powerful enough to register on seismic charts.
As other astronomers learned more details, they too said it appears likely that a legitimate meteorite hit Earth on Saturday -- an rare occurence. The Earth is constantly bombarded with objects from outer space, but most burn up in the atmosphere and never reach...
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Possible Peruvian meteor strike reported
LIMA, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Officials Thursday were investigating claims as many as 200 people became ill after a possible meteorite strike in a remote region of Peru.


Officials confirm meteorite struck Peru but question whether it sickened people
Author: MONTE HAYES Associated Press Writer
Date: September 19, 2007 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A fiery meteorite crashed into southern Peru over the weekend, experts confirmed on Wednesday. But they were still puzzling over claims that it gave off fumes that sickened 200 people.
Local residents told reporters that a fiery ball fell from the sky and smashed into the desolate Andean plain near the Bolivian border Saturday morning. Jose Mechare, a scientist with Peru's Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute, said a geologist had confirmed that it was a...
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Peru investigates reports that meteorite causing illnesses
Date: September 19, 2007 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Officials are investigating unconfirmed reports that a meteorite crashed in southern Peru over the weekend and caused dozens of people to become sick.
Local media have reported eyewitness accounts of a fiery ball falling from the sky and smashing into the desolate Andean plain near the Bolivian border Saturday morning. Officials have said it was a meteorite. Jorge Lopez, director of the health department in the southern state of Puno, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that 200 people...
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Correction: Meteorite story
Date: September 18, 2007 Publication: Associated Press Archive
In a story Sept. 14 about the historic Willamette Meteorite, The Associated Press misspelled the first name of a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Her name is Siobhan Taylor, not Siobahn. ...
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American Indian group says planned sale of meteorite piece is 'insensitive'
Author: LARRY McSHANE Associated Press Writer
Date: September 14, 2007 Publication: Associated Press Archive
The Willamette Meteorite is a sacred icon to the Oregon-based Clackamas Indians. The tribe has its own name for the massive space rock, Tomanowas, and holds an annual religious ceremony with the meteorite in its home at the American Museum of Natural History.
Now a chunk of the 10,000-year-old meteorite is up for auction, and the tribe is denouncing its sale. But the owner of the fragment, noting the vast majority of the 15.5-ton meteorite remains untouched, said his sympathy for the...
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Debris from meteorite impact 1.85 billion years ago in Canada found in Minnesota
Date: July 15, 2007 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A forest fire has led to a chance discovery of debris from the impact of a meteorite 1.85 billion years ago, more than 450 miles away at Sudbury, Ontario.
Geologists had scheduled a field trip in May along the Gunflint Trail in northeastern Minnesota, but most areas they wanted to explore were closed because of a wildfire that charred more than 118 square miles. Geologist Mark Jirsa of the Minnesota Geological Survey went up the trail to scout new locations and, in a spot he had never...
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The Almanac
UPI almanac for Saturday, June 30, 2007.

Object that fell from sky was a piece of space junk
Author: JANET FRANKSTON LORIN Associated Press Writer
Date: May 11, 2007 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A mysterious metallic object that crashed through the roof of a New Jersey home earlier this year was not a meteorite after all, but probably a piece of space junk, scientists said Friday.
The silvery object was made of a stainless-steel alloy that does not occur in nature and is most likely "orbital debris" -- part of a satellite, rocket or some other spacecraft, said Rutgers University geologist Jeremy Delaney. "There's huge amounts of...
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Meteorite recovered after Kansas tornado
GREENSBURG, Kan., May 8 (UPI) --

UPI NewsTrack TopNews
News from United Press International, around the world around the clock ...

Chemist: Mystery rock from a meteorite
SEATTLE, April 27 (UPI) -- A University of Washington engineer said a mystery rock -- said to be from an unidentified flying object -- is probably a meteorite fragment.


Mammoth, meteorite or bezoar? Christie's is offering all 3 in unusual auction
Author: MARIE-LAURE COMBES Associated Press Writer
Date: April 16, 2007 Publication: Associated Press Archive
For sale: a 15,000-year-old Siberian mammoth skeleton.
On Monday, Christie's auction house in Paris, which usually sells fine art and furniture, is hosting an unusual auction of paleontological curiosities, including several prehistoric mammals. Skeletons of a 10,000-year-old, 13.5-foot-long rhinoceros and a 7.5-foot-high cave bear are also going under the hammer. The skeletons are currently owned by a private collector, but buyers may include museums or artists, said...
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Flaming objects miss jet in air over New Zealand; experts say they were likely meteors
Author: EDUARDO GALLARDO Associated Press Writer Date: March 28, 2007 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Pilots of a Chilean commercial jetliner spotted flaming objects falling past their plane as it headed for a landing in New Zealand, airline officials said Wednesday.
U.S. experts suggested the objects were likely meteors burning up in the earth's atmosphere and questioned Australian media reports they were probably pieces of a falling Russian spacecraft. LAN Chile airline said in a brief statement that the pilot, who was not identified, "made visual contact with...
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Tyrannosaurus skull, 10-foot mammoth tusk auctioned in New York
Author: MARCUS FRANKLIN Associated Press Writer
Date: March 26, 2007 Publication: Associated Press Archive
The skull of a large carnivorous dinosaur and the tusk of a shaggy-coated mammoth from the Ice Age sold for a combined $372,000 at a natural history auction Sunday, auction officials said.
The auction, which also featured a meteorite and other items, brought in a total of $1.55 million. "This is the highest-grossing collection of natural history sold at auction since such sales figures began in 1995," said I.M. Chait Auctioneers' director of natural...
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ESA student winners identified
PARIS, March 20 (UPI) --

Research team seeks organist
LONDON, March 12 (UPI) --

Suspected meteorite crashes through bedroom window of home in Bloomington, Ill., experts say
Date: March 7, 2007 Publication: Associated Press Archive
When Dee Riddle heard the breaking glass, she thought her bathroom mirror must have shattered.
What she found was quite different: A grayish metallic object about the size of a deck of cards had crashed through a bedroom window and into a computer table. Intrigued scientists from nearby Illinois State University said it was likely a meteorite.
"In my 36 years of investigating meteorite calls, this looks like the real thing," said Robert Nelson, a geology...
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Space station moves to avoid debris
MOSCOW, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. and Russian officials changed the International Space Station's orbit to keep it clear of debris from a satellite destroyed by China, a report says.

UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News
Report says man causing global warming ... Prosthetic arm feels more real ... Woman dies after mammogram mistake ... Space station moves to avoid debris ... News from United Press International.

Meteorite goes on exhibit for a day
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Jan. 28 (UPI) -- A meteorite said to be "as old as the solar system itself" went on display for the first time since crashing into the roof of a New Jersey home Jan. 2.

It came from outer space; N.J. finds a meteorite in the bathroom
Author: CHRIS NEWMARKER Associated Press Writer
Date: January 10, 2007 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A hole in the roof, a bathroom full of debris and a strange, silvery rock near the toilet -- the Nageswaran family soon realized they needed an astronomer, not a contractor, to fully explain what damaged their house.
Scientists determined it was a meteorite that crashed through the roof of their central New Jersey home more than a week ago. While extraterrestrial rocks fall to the Earth with some regularity, it is rare for them to strike homes.
"The fact that...
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Object from sky ID'd as meteorite
FREEHOLD, N.J., Jan. 6 (UPI) -- The mysterious object that came through the roof of a house in New Jersey, gutting a second-floor bathroom, was a meteorite, experts said Friday.

Scientists say object that fell into home in NJ is a meteorite; landed in homeowner's bathroom
Date: January 5, 2007 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A mysterious rocklike object that crashed through the roof of a home and landed in the bathroom was a meteorite, experts said Friday.
For now, scientists are calling the dense metallic object "Freehold Township" after the place where it fell. It's about the size of a golf ball but weighs about 13 ounces, as much of a can of soup. Magnets held near it are attracted to it. Rutgers University geologists Jeremy Delaney, Gail Ashley and Claire Condie and...
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Watercooler Stories
'Spaceship Earth' sculpture crashes ... Unusual rock may be a meteorite ... Professors accused of fast test taking ... Manatee rescued off Texas coast ... Watercooler stories from UPI.

Mysterious metallic object crashes through roof of house in New Jersey, puzzles police
Author: CHRIS NEWMARKER Associated Press Writer
Date: January 4, 2007 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Authorities were trying to identify a mysterious metallic object that crashed through the roof of a house in eastern New Jersey.
Nobody was injured when the golf-ball sized object, weighing nearly as much as a can of soup, struck the home and embedded itself in a wall Tuesday night. Federal officials sent to the scene said it was not from an aircraft. The rough-surfaced object, with a metallic glint, was displayed Wednesday by police.
"There's some great...
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Unusual rock may be a meteorite
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP, N.J., Jan. 4 (UPI) --

2006 Meteor/Meteorite News UPI/AP newswires

2006 Meteor/Meteorite News-
Sources /text-UPI/ AP newswires


Turkmen president spread his name, portrait and musings throughout country
Author: The Associated Press
Date: December 21, 2006 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A look at some of the notable initiatives of the late Saparmurat Niyazov, who ruled Turkmenistan for two decades:
-- Named himself Turkmenbashi, or "Father of all Turkmen." -- Also gave the name Turkmenbashi to a major Caspian port, the month of January, Central Asia's largest mosque, an amusement park, the country's highest mountain and a meteorite that landed on Turkmen territory.
-- Banned opera and ballet, and started a...
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Study: Samples of comet dust show a mix of materials from distant reaches of the solar system
Author: ALICIA CHANG AP Science Writer
Date: December 14, 2006 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Detailed observations from the first comet samples returned to Earth are debunking some of science's long-held beliefs on how the icy, celestial bodies form.
Scientists expected the minute grains retrieved from a comet Wild 2 to be made up mostly of interstellar dust -- tiny particles that flow through the solar system thought to be from ancient stars that exploded and died. Instead, they found an unusual mix of primordial material as if the solar system had turned itself...
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Scientists find unusual meteorite in Kansas field using technology that might aid them on Mars
Author: ROXANA HEGEMAN Associated Press Writer
Date: October 17, 2006 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Scientists were excited when they pulled a 154-pound meteorite from deep below a Kansas wheat field, but what got them most electrified was the way they unearthed it.
The team Monday uncovered the find 4 feet under a meteorite-strewn field using new ground-penetrating radar technology that someday might be used on Mars. It was that technology which pinpointed the site and proved for the first time that it could be used to find objects buried deep in the ground and to make an accurate...
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Meteorites used to study solar activity
OULU, Finland, Sept. 26 (UPI) --

Unusual meteorite found in Antarctica
CLEVELAND, Sept. 19 (UPI) --

Meteorite plummets through Norwegian roof
MOSS, Norway, Aug. 9 (UPI) --


Ten years later, few experts believe Mars meteorite contains traces of life
Author: MATT CRENSON AP National Writer
Date: August 5, 2006 Publication: Associated Press Archive
It was a science fiction fantasy come true: Ten years ago this summer, NASA announced the discovery of life on Mars.
At a Washington, D.C., news conference, scientists showed magnified pictures of a four-pound Martian meteorite riddled with wormy blobs that looked like bacterial colonies. The researchers explained how they had pried numerous clues from the rock, all strongly supporting their contention that microscopic creatures once occupied its nooks and crannies. It was arguably the...
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Meteorite dust showers Norway outhouse
OSLO, Norway, July 17 (UPI) --


Discovery astronauts to look for dings in shuttle caused by space junk
Author: SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer
Date: July 13, 2006 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Discovery's crew will check the shuttle's wing for damage from space junk or tiny meteorites in a first-of-its-kind procedure Friday, two days after a spacewalking astronaut accidentally let go of a spatula that now circles Earth with other orbital trash.
NASA said the spatula posed no risk to the crew, but it planned to use a 50-foot extension boom attached to the shuttle's robotic arm to look for damage from micrometeoroids, the dust-sized particles...
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Second meteorite in a month hits Norway
STAVANGER, Norway, July 10 (UPI) --

The Almanac

Norwegian meteorite impact site located
OSLO, Norway, June 12 (UPI) --

Large meteorite hits northern Norway
OSLO, Norway, June 9 (UPI) -- A large meteorite struck in northern Norway this week, landing with an impact an astronomer compared to the atomic bomb used at Hiroshima.


Meteor in Antarctica may have caused mass extinction 250 million years ago
Author: MICHAEL CASEY AP Environmental Writer
Date: June 8, 2006 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A massive crater in Antarctica may have been caused by a meteor that wiped out more than 90 percent of the species on Earth 250 million years ago, a geologist said.
The 300-mile-wide crater lies hidden more than a mile beneath a sheet of ice and was discovered by scientists using satellite data, Ohio State University geologist Ralph von Frese said Wednesday. Von Frese said the satellite data suggests the crater could date back about 250 million years to the time of the Permian-Triassic...
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Australian fossils offer evidence of life from 3.4 billion years ago
Author: SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer Date: June 7, 2006 Publication: Associated Press Archive
The best evidence yet for the oldest life on Earth is found in odd-shaped, rock-like mounds in Australia that are actually fossils created by microbes 3.4 billion years ago, researchers report.
"It's an ancestor of life. If you think that all life arose on this one planet, perhaps this is where it started," said Abigail Allwood, a researcher at the Australian Centre for Astrobiology and lead author of the new study. It appears Thursday in the journal...
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Soaring prices for meteorites as the space rocks penetrate art world
Author: PAT MILTON Associated Press Writer
Date: April 12, 2006 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A meteorite believed to have come from an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter sold for $93,000 at an auction of rare space sculptures.
The 355-pound chunk of iron, thousands of years old and discovered in the Campo del Cielo crater field in Argentina, was one of 10 meteorites that went for high prices at a Bonhams' New York natural history auction. The pristine meteorite, known as "Valley of the Sky," was purchased Tuesday by a private collector in...
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Lunar rocks suggest meteorite bombardment
CORVALLIS, Ore., April 12 (UPI) -- New studies indicate many of the lunar rocks returned by the Apollo space missions show signs of melting about 3.9 billion years ago.


Rare aesthetic meteorites set for auction block
Author: PAT MILTON Associated Press Writer Date: April 10, 2006 Publication: Associated Press Archive
The art world's interest in meteorites has skyrocketed, with collectors and curators buying up the outer-space rocks for display in museums, galleries or on a cocktail table at home.
Meteorite hunters will get a chance to bid for some of the world's most coveted extraterrestrial rocks when they go on sale Tuesday at Bonhams' New York natural history auction. Among the highlights are a small slice of the 15.5-ton Williamette, the crown jewel of...
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Mars rock study is inconclusive
CORVALLIS, Ore., March 23 (UPI) --

Largest crater discovered in Sahara
BOSTON, March 4 (UPI) -- Boston University researchers have discovered the remnants of the largest crater of the Great Sahara of North Africa.

Bacteria survived Columbia explosion
SAN MARCOS, Texas, Feb. 22 (UPI) --

Jockstrip: The world as we know it
Taking a leak could be less of a crime... Asian with rude-sounding name changes it... Students unmask fake duke... Thief gets sample of moon rock... Rubik's cube record set at 11.13 seconds... The world as we know it from UPI.

Thief gets sample of moon rock
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Jan. 16 (UPI) --

2005 Meteor/Meteorite News-UPI/AP newswires

2005 Meteor/Meteorite News-
Sources: UPI/AP newswires

DEC 2005-JAN 2005

Studies challenge notion that Mars once was warm and wet
Author: ALICIA CHANG AP Science Writer
Date: December 21, 2005 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Two new studies are challenging the notion that the desolate Martian plains once brimmed with salty pools of water that could have supported some form of life.
Instead, the studies argue, the layered rock outcrops probed by NASA's robot rover Opportunity and interpreted as signs of ancient water could have been left by explosive volcanic ash or a meteorite impact eons ago. That would suggest a far more violent and dry history than proposed by the scientists operating...
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Only two larger ones of...
challenge notion that Mars once was warm and wet
Author: ALICIA CHANG AP Science Writer
Date: December 21, 2005 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Two new studies are challenging the notion that the desolate Martian plains once brimmed with salty pools of water that could have supported some form of life.
Instead, the studies argue, the layered rock outcrops probed by NASA's robot rover Opportunity and interpreted as signs of ancient water could have been left by explosive volcanic ash or a meteorite impact eons ago. That would suggest a far more violent and dry history than proposed by the scientists operating...
Geologists: No Mars water, just meteorites
TEMPE, Ariz., Dec. 21 (UPI) --

DEC

Huge meteorite discovered underground in area of Kansas rich in space rock
Date: November 11, 2005 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A rare 1,400-pound meteorite was discovered seven feet underground by a collector in an area long known for producing prized space rocks. Using a metal detector mounted on a three-wheel vehicle, Steve Arnold of Kingston, Ark., found the huge meteorite two weeks ago in Kiowa County's Brenham Township in southern Kansas. The meteorite is classified as an oriented pallasite, a type noted for a conical shape with crystals embedded in iron-nickel alloy. Only two larger ones of... Click here for complete article ($1.50)

NOV

Meteorites may have caused ancient lava
PROVIDENCE, R.I., Oct. 28 (UPI) --

OCT

Meteorite unlocks solar system secrets
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Sept. 27 (UPI) --

SEP

AUG
Red planet may not have been hot
PASADENA, Calif., July 22 (UPI) --

UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News
Drilling set at Chesapeake Bay meteor site ... British butterfly popuation is decreasing ... U.S. healthcare costs are double Canada's ... Prostate treatment with low side effects ... News from United Press International.

Drilling set at Chesapeake Bay meteor site
BALTIMORE, July 18 (UPI) --

Norwegian fjords, world's largest meteorite crater among new U.N. protected sites Author: ALEXANDRA ZAVIS Associated Press Writer Date: July 14, 2005 Publication: Associated Press ArchiveNorwegian fjords and the world's oldest and largest meteorite crater in South Africa were among seven natural wonders added Thursday to the United Nation's list of protected World Heritage Sites. The additions were made at the 29th session of the U.N. Environmental, Scientific and Cultural Organization's World Heritage Committee, taking place this week in the South African coastal city of Durban. The vast crater southwest of Johannesburg was formed... Click here for complete article ($1.50)

JULY

JUNE

The Almanac

Meteorite momument in Scotland
GLASGOW, Scotland, May 21 (UPI) --

MAY
Scientists size up 'backyard' meteorite
CHICAGO, April 14 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists are studying a meteorite that literally landed in their back yard.

APR

In the Stars: A second chance for exolife?
WASHINGTON, March 31 (UPI) -- A weekly series by UPI examining new discoveries about the cosmos. This week: Dying stars go through a stage where they expand to many times their original size, and new research suggests this stage might be long enough in some cases for life to take hold

Residents report streak of light over southern Oregon, Washington state
Author: WILLIAM McCALL
Associated Press Writer Date: March 13, 2005 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Dozens of residents in the Pacific Northwest reported seeing a bright streak of light as it flashed across the sky, startling witnesses from southern Oregon to the Seattle area, according to officials. Scientists said the flaming object was probably a meteor, and that it likely disintegrated before any fragments fell into the Pacific Ocean. "It was like a big ball of fire," said Summer Jensen, who was in her living room Saturday night when she saw the flash of... Click here for complete article ($1.50)

Meteorite dust sheds clues to solar system ST. LOUIS, March 4 (UPI) --

MAR

Living bacteria found in ocean sediments
CARDIFF, Wales, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Welsh scientists said they have found living bacteria inside sediments about 16 million years old and located about a half-mile below the ocean's surface.

Lady Luck watches over Mars rovers
WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- The spectacular success of NASA's twin Mars rovers is due obviously to the skills and determination of the scientists and engineers involved in the mission, but luck also contributed to an amazing degree.

FEB

Suspected Meteorite Hits Cambodia
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — An unidentified object that crashed to Earth in northwestern Cambodia (search) has some villagers believing it may have divine power, police said Wednesday.
The hard, black rocklike object, weighing about 9.9 pounds, fell from the sky into a field about 19 miles north of Sisophon early Monday morning, said Sok Sareth, the Banteay Meanchey province police chief.
Hundreds of villagers rushed to the site to pray, believing it had divine power.
Local police initially thought a land mine had exploded in the area — a former war zone. The object made a hole 15.75 inches deep and burnt nearby grass and leaves.
Sok Sareth said he transferred the object to his office for further investigation by geologists and land mine clearing experts, ignoring requests from villagers to return it.
"Some people said others who have been possessed by spirits told them that unless the object is returned to where it landed, people in the community will experience hunger or disease," he said.
"But I don't believe that. Some people just made it up to try to profit from it."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145536,00.html

Meteorite lands in Cambodian rice paddy
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Jan. 26 (UPI) --


NASA rover finds meteorite on surface of Mars, offering clues to how planet's surface changes
Author: JOHN ANTCZAK Associated Press Writer
Date: January 19, 2005 Publication: Associated Press Archive
NASA's Opportunity rover has determined that a strange bubbly rock on the surface of Mars is actually a meteorite, offering a new clue into how the martian surface is made and remade.
Scientists are not so much interested in the meteorite itself. Rather, they want to see if other objects nearby also are meteorites and how martian winds are reshaping the planet. If sand is continually blowing in and being deposited on the surface, burying things and building up terrain over...
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NASA rover finds meteorite on surface of Mars
Author: JOHN ANTCZAK Associated Press Writer
Date: January 19, 2005 Publication: Associated Press Archive
In a stroke of luck, the NASA rover Opportunity has discovered a basketball-size metal meteorite sitting on the surface of Mars, the mission's main scientist said Tuesday.
Scientists believe the meteorite might lead to clues about how martian winds are reshaping the planet's surface. Opportunity came upon the meteorite last week while performing other tasks. Tests confirmed it was a nickel-iron meteorite, said Steve Squyres, a Cornell University scientist who is...
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JAN 2005

2004 Meteor/Meteorite News-UPI

2004 Meteor/Meteorite News-
Source: links and text-UPI/AP newswires

Streak of light startles central Florida
ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 19 (UPI) --

In the Stars: Titan's critical secret
WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- NASA's Cassini spacecraft flew closer to Saturn's giant moon Titan on Monday than any other device built by humans. The mission, in one of the far corners of the solar system, is attempting to answer a very large, critical question -- does life exist anyw

Colo. family finds softball-size meteorite
BERTHOUD, Colo., Oct. 12 (UPI) --


Residents report bright lights in sky over at least five states
Date: July 8, 2004 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A meteor shower Wednesday night lit up the sky from Texas to western Tennessee, prompting a flood of reports to law enforcement officers throughout a five-state region.
The lights flashed across the sky shortly after 9 p.m. in portions of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Tennessee. A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said the spotting was a meteorite, probably several.
"The front part was fiery red and it had a greenish glow behind it and a...
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Meteorite-Washington
Date: June 3, 2004 Publication: Associated Press Archive
SEATTLE -- Withhold BC-Meteorite-Washington. The identity of the source of the story cannot be confirmed.
The AP ...
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Flashes, booms reported over western Washington state; officials say meteor possible source
Date: June 3, 2004 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Bright flashes and sharp booms were reported in the skies over the Puget Sound area early Thursday, and experts said a meteor or falling "space junk" may have been the source.
Nothing unusual was detected on National Weather Service radar, and authorities also ruled out aircraft problems or military flight tests. Toby Smith, a University of Washington astronomy lecturer who specializes in meteorites, said scientists were looking into the cause of the skybursts...
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Meteor lights up sky over western Washington state
Author: TIM KLASS Associated Press Writer
Date: June 3, 2004 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A meteor about the size of a computer monitor flashed across the Northwest sky early Thursday, setting off booms that stunned witnesses.
"There was some question as to whether it was a piece of space junk burning up, but it was not," said Geoff Chester, a spokesman for the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. "As far as I've been able to figure out, it was simply a rock falling out of the sky, as they are wont to do on...
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Scientists find signs of ancient crater possibly linked to mass extinction
Author: RANDOLPH E. SCHMID Associated Press Writer
Date: May 13, 2004 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Millions of years before the dinosaurs vanished, an even bigger mass extinction wiped out more than 90 percent of the species on Earth. Now scientists think they may have evidence of an impact crater that contributed to the "Great Dying."
The Permian-Triassic Extinction took place some 250 million years ago in a vastly different world from today. Scientists have debated its cause for years. The end of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago is widely thought to have...
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New mineral from the moon discovered, named
Author: RANDOLPH E. SCHMID Associated Press Writer
Date: April 26, 2004 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A chunk of the moon that landed on Earth as a meteorite contains a new mineral, which scientists have named after a researcher who years ago predicted the unusual process that formed the material.
Grains of the material, made of iron and silicon, were found in pieces of a meteorite that was discovered in Oman on the Saudi peninsula, said Lawrence A. Taylor of the University of Tennessee, a member of the research team that reported the find. The process that led to the...
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Scientists say giant meteorite struck western Wisconsin millions of years ago
Author: JULIET WILLIAMS Associated Press Writer
Date: April 26, 2004 Publication: Associated Press Archive
The muddy brown hills and rolling farmland here look like others in Wisconsin. Tall grasses, cornfields and a bubbling brook yield to rocky outcroppings and rows of trees.
But scientists years ago saw something different about those rocks and concluded an ancient catastrophic event occurred here, although what type of calamity remained a mystery. They believe they have finally solved the puzzle: A 650- to 700-foot meteorite crashed into the earth at speeds up to 67,500 mph.
The...
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Robot rover on Mars finds evidence that rocks were soaked in water in past
Author: PAUL RECER AP Science Writer
Date: March 3, 2004 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Mars may once have been a wet place where life could flourish, according to NASA scientists who say a robot rover has found evidence that rocks on the Red Planet "were once soaked with liquid water."
"The ground would have been suitable for life," said Steve Squyres of Cornell University, the lead investigator for science instruments on the rover Opportunity. "That doesn't mean life was there. We don't...
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Robot rover on Mars finds evidence that rocks were soaked in water in past
Author: PAUL RECER AP Science Writer Date: March 2, 2004 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Water percolating through the soil once created a friendly environment that would have been ideal for life to flourish on Mars, NASA scientists say.
It not known how long this environment lasted or if any organism actually developed. But scientists directing robot rovers prowling the Martian surface said Tuesday the evidence now is clear that some rocks "were once soaked with liquid water." "The ground would have been suitable for life,"...
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2001 Meteorite News AP-newswire

Sugar compounds found in meteorites; bolsters theory that ingredients of life came from outer space
Author: ALEX DOMINGUEZ Associated Press Writer Date: December 19, 2001 Publication: Associated Press Archive Sugar compounds, an indispensable ingredient for life today, have been found in meteorites, bolstering the theory that chunks of rock from outer space delivered the materials that gave rise to life in Earth. Another key ingredient, amino acids, has already been found in meteorites. George Cooper of NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., said that while it has not been proved that meteorites delivered the materials that led to life, the discovery means... Click here for complete article ($1.50)

Researchers says NASA's Mars researchers have failed to prove case for bacteria fossils in Martian meteorite
Author: PAUL RECER AP Science Writer Date: November 20, 2001 Publication: Associated Press Archive A group of researchers say NASA scientists have failed to prove their contention that a Mars meteorite contains evidence of ancient microbial life on the Red Planet. A group led by Peter R. Buseck of Arizona State University said that the NASA researchers have inadequate evidence showing that tiny crystalline structures in Mars meteorite ALH84001 were formed by bacteria billions of years ago as the rock was sitting on the Martian surface. A study with Buseck as the first author appears... Click here for complete article ($1.50)

Asteroid photos show complex surface with dust 'ponds' likely formed after impacts, researchers say
Author: WILLIAM McCALL Associated Press Writer Date: September 26, 2001 Publication: Associated Press Archive Photos taken by the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid show a landscape littered with boulders, small rocks and other debris that appear to have partly eroded and settled into mysterious "ponds" of thick dust, researchers say. The photos taken by the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous spacecraft, called NEAR, add evidence to the theory that even the weak gravity of an asteroid can hold on to much of the flying debris created when struck by another object such as... Click here for complete article ($1.50)

Geologists scour Colorado countryside for remnants of meteor seen from Idaho to New Mexico
Author: JUDITH KOHLER Associated Press Writer Date: August 30, 2001 Publication: Associated Press Archive Geologist Jack Murphy is in hot pursuit of remnants of a fireball spotted in the Western skies. Murphy heads a team of meteor hunters at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science that is chasing reports of a white ball described as up to 40 times brighter than the moon. Data from an acoustic tracking system at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico suggest the meteor weighed roughly a ton and plummeted toward earth at 11.25 miles a second on Aug. 17. ... Click here for complete article ($1.50)


Newly discovered Mars meteorite could be window into Red Planet
Author: ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS Associated Press Writer Date: June 16, 2001 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A fist-sized meteorite, one of only 18 rocks on Earth known to have come from Mars, has been found by Swiss scientists in the Oman desert -- a prize discovery that could help determine if the planet ever sustained life.
Scientists at the University of Bern announced the find Friday and said they are just beginning to examine the meteorite. Most of the other 17 Martian rocks have been snapped up by collectors, they said, so few are fully available for study. "I suspected from...
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Meteorites from moon, Mars found
Date: April 8, 2001 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Researchers have discovered two new examples of the rarest space rocks found on Earth: meteorites from the moon and Mars.
The two rocks are the 15th and 17th meteorites to be found from the moon and Mars, respectively, making them the least common among the estimated 22,000 meteorites discovered on this planet. News of the discoveries was announced this month and will be reported in the July 2001 bulletin of the Meteoritical Society, an international organization devoted to the study of...
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Meteorite disappoints scientists after a year-long study
Author: The Associated Press Date: April 6, 2001 Publication: Associated Press Archive
To scientists' disappointment, a meteorite that fell on a frozen Canadian lake has been found to contain none of the organic ingredients believed necessary to have initiated life on Earth.
Many scientists believe that simple life arose on Earth more than 4 billion years ago after meteorites crashed through the atmosphere, carrying amino acids and other biochemical compounds from outer space. The fragments of a 220-ton meteorite that were sprinkled on Tagish Lake in British...
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Study: Crystal in meteorite proves life once existed on Mars
Author: PAUL RECER AP Science Writer Date: February 27, 2001 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A crystal found in a meteorite from Mars could only have been formed by a microbe and may be evidence of the oldest life form ever found, researchers say.
Scientists at the Johnson Space Center in Houston say that a crystalized magnetic mineral, called magnetite, found in a Martian meteorite is similar to crystals formed on Earth by bacteria. "I am convinced that this is supporting evidence for the presence of ancient life on Mars," said Kathie Thomas-Keprta, an...
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Researchers say crystal in meteorite proves life once existed on Mars
Author: PAUL RECER AP Science Writer Date: February 27, 2001 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A controversial finding that a meteorite from Mars might contain evidence of life has been boosted by the discovery of a magnetic crystal that researchers say could have been made only by a microbe.
In a study appearing Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston say a crystalized magnetic mineral called magnetite, found in a Martian meteorite, is similar to crystals formed on Earth by bacteria. "I am...
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Astronomers find key ingredients for formation of life
Author: PAUL RECER AP Science Writer Date: February 20, 2001 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Complex carbon molecules and water, which are key ingredients for life, have been found in the dust and gas around distant stars. The findings boost the theory that the cosmic stew of life is common in the universe.
Astronomers reported Monday that orbiting observatories probing the space around both young and dying stars have found vast waves of water vapor and clear traces of carbon molecules that can play a basic role in organic chemistry. "This strengthens greatly the...
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Japanese team finds 3,554 meteorites in Antarctica
Date: January 23, 2001 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Japanese scientists have found 3,554 meteorites in Antarctica during a three-week search, a collection that could yield clues about the rest of our solar system, a government official said Tuesday.
The finds were made around the Yamato mountain range about 186 miles from Japan's base on the rim of Antarctica, said Shigeru Kure of Japan's science ministry. A meteorite is a meteor that survives the destructive effects of a flight through the atmosphere and falls to...
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2000 Meteorite News AP-newswire

Expert: Explosion in sky probably a meteorite
Date: December 27, 2000 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A small meteorite's fall to Earth was the likely cause of a sonic boom and streaks of light over southeastern Australia which sparked dozens of calls to police, an expert said Wednesday.
"It is most likely to be a meteorite," said Ian Warren, operations supervisor at the Deep Space Communications Complex in the national capital, Canberra. "The size of the meteorite would probably be about coffee cup size, that would cause a sonic boom and...
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Study: Carbon-rich meteorite may give new clues to origin of life
Author: PAUL RECER AP Science Writer Date: October 12, 2000 Publication: Associated Press Archive
In a search for new clues about the origin of life, researchers worldwide are analyzing bits of a bus-sized meteorite that blazed to Earth last January in a spectacular fireball, giving science the most pristine primordial matter ever recovered.
The meteorite, estimated to weigh about 220 tons when it smashed into the atmosphere, shattered before it hit the ground and sprayed bits of space rock over a frozen lake in Canada's British Columbia. More than 70 eyewitness saw the...
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It came from outer space: Rock that damaged car is a meteorite
Date: July 25, 2000 Publication: Associated Press Archive
It was no ordinary rock that broke Rick Wirth's windshield four years ago. It came from outer space. And it's older than the Earth.
Wirth got confirmation that his rock is a meteorite from a geology professor Monday. In 35 years at the University of Minnesota, professor Paul Weiblen said he has seen thousands of rocks brought in by people who thought they had meteorites. All of them were mere Earth rocks.
But when last month he saw the rock that broke...
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Oregon tribes agree to share sacred meteorite with NYC museum
Author: LARRY McSHANE Associated Press Writer Date: June 22, 2000 Publication: Associated Press Archive
The heads of the Museum of Natural History and an American Indian group signed an agreement Thursday to share custody of a 10,000-year-old meteorite that's a centerpiece of the museum's new planetarium.
"What a milestone it is to have reached this agreement here," said Kathryn Harrison, chairwoman of Oregon's Grand Ronde Tribal Council, after the deal was finalized at a news conference at the museum. The 16-ton meteorite became...
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Scientist say age of meteorite crystals about 4.57 billion years
Date: June 9, 2000 Publication: Associated Press Archive
Salt deposited by ancient space water inside of a meteorite is about 4.57 billion years old and probably crystalized just 2 million years after the birth of the solar system, researchers say.
The salt, or halite, crystals were found within a meteorite called Zag that fell in Morocco in 1998. Similar halite crystals were reported last year inside of a meteorite that fell in Monahans, Texas. In a study appearing Friday in the journal Science, researchers at the University of Manchester...
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Museum: Tribe has no claim to meteorite
Date: February 29, 2000 Publication: Associated Press Archive
The American Museum of Natural History argues that Oregon Indians have no claim to a 15 1/2-ton meteorite that the museum has owned for 94 years and is the centerpiece of a showy new building.
The museum on Monday asked a federal court to reject a claim filed in September by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, which contends the meteorite is a sacred object and should be returned under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The iron...
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Museum says Oregon Indian tribe has no claim to meteorite
Date: February 28, 2000 Publication: Associated Press Archive
The American Museum of Natural History argued Monday that Oregon Indian tribes have no claim to a 15 1/2-ton meteorite that the museum has owned for 94 years.
The museum asked a federal court to reject a claim filed in September by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, which contends the meteorite is a sacred object and should be returned under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The iron meteorite crashed into Earth some 10,000 years...
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Tribe demands meteorite at center of new planetarium
Author: JOHN JURGENSEN Associated Press Writer Date: February 19, 2000 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A group of American Indians says a 16-ton meteorite that will be the main attraction at the Museum of Natural History's new planetarium is a holy tribal object and should be returned to Oregon.
The meteorite -- about the size of a small car -- was ready for display at the opening of the planetarium's main hall today. The meteorite hit Earth more than 10,000 years ago and was moved by glacial ice to a hillside in West Linn, Ore. The Clackamas tribe adopted it as a...
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Astronomers find complex organic molecules in space
Author: PAUL RECER AP Science Writer
Date: January 12, 2000 Publication: Associated Press Archive
A primordial soup of complex organic chemicals that could be the precursors of life is cooked up very quickly after the birth of stars, new research suggests.
"Life could have had an easier time starting than we thought before," astronomer Sun Kwok said Wednesday at a national meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Kwok, of the University of Calgary, Canada, said a study by the Infrared Space Observatory showed that large organic molecules evolve within...
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